Vehari braces for Sutlej flooding

Over 40,000 residents of district have been relocated to safe places

VEHARI/ LAHORE:

After wreaking havoc in Kasur, Pakpattan and other districts, around 191,000 cusecs of water from Sutlej River’s Sulemanki Headwork is expected to hit Vehari on Tuesday night or the morning of Wednesday (today).

The water level at the river’s Islam Headworks is continuously increasing with the inflow recorded at 51,152 cusecs and outflow standing at 49,607 cusecs.

The flow of water at Head Syphon has reached 42,685 cusecs.

More than 40,000 residents of Vehari district have been relocated to safe places and the flood is expected to affect 113 villages as well as scattered settlements.

Standing crops spread over 50,000 acres in the district are expected to be destroyed by the deluge.

Read Sutlej flooding wreaks havoc, forces migrations

Its deputy commissioner, Syed Asif Hussain Shah, said 80% of the people living in low-lying areas had been shifted to safe places.

He added that the district administration and police teams were busy evacuating other people from low-lying areas. Shah continued that three tents and 20 flood relief camps – equipped with necessary facilities – had been set up in the district for the relocated residents.

According to sources, as soon as the flow of the floodwater increased, the protective small dams started breaking.
They added that a protective small dam in Lakhuka near Dad Jamlera had breached, inundating hundreds of acres of land.

The district administration said there was no government-built protective small dam in Lakhuka and the one that was destroyed must be a private one.

Sources indicated that the collapse of a protective small dam resulted in flooding in multiple areas, leading to the destruction of standing crops over several acres.

The already dilapidated Sahoka Road is also facing the risk of being flooded – a scenario that will cause difficulties to those travelling to Burewala.

The flood-hit places have been cut off from land connectivity with other areas. In many places, the flood-hit people are living under the open sky and rescue teams have not reached them yet.

According to a statement issued by the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), the water level at Sutlej’s Ganda Singh Wala point was still very high but gradually declining.

It added that the 122,000 cusecs of water was flowing at the Ganda Singh Wala point.

The PDMA pointed out that there was a high flood at Sulemanki Headwork with a flow of 171,000 cusecs and the water level was still rising.

The authority said there was a medium level flood at Sutlej’s Islam Headworks and the water level there was increasing.
It added that there would be a high level flood at Islam Headworks in the next 24 hours and the authorities there had been alerted.

The PDMA director general said the low-lying areas of Kasur, Okara, Pakpattan, Vehari, Bahawalnagar, Multan, Lodhran and Bahawalpur were under flood.

In another statement, the PDMA spokesperson warned that there was a risk of a medium to high level flood at Mangla in Jhelum River from August 23 to 25.

Read more Sutlej breaks record for water flows in 35 years

He added that Gujrat, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Sargodha and low-lying areas of Khushab might be affected by the flood as well.

The spokesperson said there was also a risk of flooding in the low-lying areas of Jhang, Khanewal, Muzaffargarh and Multan.

He continued that the commissioners and district administrations of these areas had been alerted about this situation.
The PDMA DG has directed the administration to remove encroachments from the Jhelum River channel, adding that by giving way to water, inhabited lands could be saved from destruction.

Expecting the arrival of a large flood in Sutlej River, the district administration of Lodhran has set up relief camps and three large tent villages at 24 different places for its residents.

Lodhran Deputy Commissioner Abdul Rauf Mehr said the next 24 hours were very crucial in connection with flood relief. He added that the district administration was active 24 hours to provide relief to the residents.

While inspecting a tent village established in Government Graduate College Lodhran, the deputy commissioner said he had issued an alert and directed all officers to perform their flood duties seriously.

He continued that more than 300 tents had been installed in Government Graduate College Lodhran, which had the capacity to accommodate more than 3,000 people.

Mehr said 135 and 190 villages of Lodhran and Kahroorpakka tehsils respectively were are likely to be affected because of the expected flood in the district.

(With input from our correspondent in Lodhran)