Flood mitigation efforts continue in Jalalpur Pirwala
Residents are evacuated from a flooded area in Jalalpur Pirwala. Authorities have made life jackets and rings mandatory for rescue operations in the submerged region. PHOTO: APP
Punjab Irrigation Minister Kazim Pirzada has said that teams of the Department are fully mobilsed and all possible measures are being taken to protect Jalalpur Pirwala from flood.
He said in a video message that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif was receiving reports from Jalalpur city and the affected area every hour.
The irrigation department was continuously monitoring the water velocity and level at various places through gauges.
The minister added that a technical committee had decided to strengthen the Nooraja Bhatta Dam once again and the work has begun from both sides.
He said heavy machinery of the department had been fully functionalised since Saturday night to pave the path on the Lodhran side.
Kazim Prizada underscored that it was necessary to make the path due to the presence of water on one side of the dam.
Heavy machinery arrived to fill a breach on the motorway side and efforts for the purpose were ongoing from both directions.
The minister said the situation of the pond was being monitored.
He expressed confidence that the Jalalpur city would remain safe and would not be affected by floodwater anymore.
He said the water flowing towards the motorway was also gradually decreasing.
Work for plugging six cracks on both sides was also set to begin.
The provincial minister said that millions of people had faced displacement and heavy losses due to the floods.
He said 70 to 90 per cent of the population in Alipur and Jalalpur Pirwala had been severely affected and crops had also been damaged.
A team of provincial cabinet members led by Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb was sent to Alipur for 10 days.
The irrigation minister said the situation in Alipur was also very bad. The cabinet team supervised relief supplies for 15 hours in Sultanpur, Shahbazpur and other places. He said the water level in the rivers was decreasing.
The embankment passing through Lodhran and Jalalpur reaches the motorway. Difficulties were being faced due to a crack in this embankment and water started reaching one side of the motorway due to the breach of the Zamindar Dam. The minister said the flood-affected area of Bahawalpur will also be counted among the disaster-hit areas.
Meanwhile, teams are working day and night to restore flood-affected roads as soon as possible with heavy machinery used to fill cracks caused by flood torrents.