CM tells authorities to prepare for flood
Homes stand where the river once breathed - fragile roots on borrowed ground. Each year, the flood returns, not with fury, but with memory, reminding those who built too close that water forgets nothing. In Sehrish Nagar, houses now stand surrounded by water, as levels rise downstream of Kotri. Photo: INP
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has put the authorities in the province on high alert following warnings that very high floods are expected at the Guddu and Sukkur locations of the Indus River on September 4 and 5.
The heavy rains in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan besides the release of water in Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers by India has caused a slow moving tsunami in the Indus River heading south towards Sindh.
The daily monitoring report by the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) suggests that the River Indus was running in high flood at Guddu Barrage and at medium flood at Sukkur Barrage with rising trend.
From Monday to Wednesday, the discharge of water downstream Guddu Barrage has increased by 169,800 cubic feet per second (cusecs) and 131,960 at Sukkur Barrage.
CM Murad Ali Shah chaired a high-level meeting at the Chief Minister's House to review flood preparedness across the province instructing all relevant authorities to implementation of the Provincial Monsoon Contingency Plan 2025.
Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon stated that the meeting took into account the recent devastation caused by floods in Punjab and the latest warnings from the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).
"Protect embankments and vulnerable communities, and ensure the availability of essential arrangements, including tents, ration bags, boats, medicines, and machinery," CM told the divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, the PDMA, and relevant departments.
CM assigned various ministers and MPAs having constituencies to the right and left banks of the Indus River to directly monitor the condition of embankments and high-risk areas.
According to the statement, the health department was instructed to immediately deploy medical teams and carry out preventive vaccination campaigns against waterborne diseases.