Major rivers swell amid heavy rains

Heavy rains have increased water flows in Punjab's rivers, with medium-level flooding reported at Kalabagh on the Indus and high-level flooding in Nullah Palkho at Wazirabad, while several other rivers and waterways are also carrying elevated flows.

According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), the Indus was experiencing a medium-level flood at Kalabagh, where water inflow stood at 425,000 cusecs and outflow at 416,000 cusecs. It added that low-level flooding was also prevailing in the Indus at Tarbela, Chashma and Taunsa.

The PDMA said water flows in the Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi and Sutlej rivers remained within normal levels. Water flow at Tarbela was recorded at 267,000 cusecs, while Chashma and Taunsa were carrying 360,000 cusecs and 317,000 cusecs, respectively, according to the authority.

The PDMA said water flow in the hill torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan was normal, while a high-level flood situation prevailed in Nullah Palkho at Wazirabad, where the discharge reached 5,800 cusecs.

A low-level flood was also reported in Nullah Basantar and Nullah Aik in Narowal, while Tarbela Dam had reached 100% of its storage capacity and Mangla Dam was 72% full. The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) said it released 414,900 cusecs from various rim stations against an inflow of 448,200 cusecs.

According to data released by the authority, the water level at Tarbela Dam stood at 1,550 feet, which was 148 feet above its dead level of 1,402 feet. Inflow and outflow at the dam were both recorded at 259,900 cusecs.

At Mangla Dam, the water level in the Jhelum River stood at 1,215 feet, or 165 feet above its dead level of 1,050 feet. The inflow was recorded at 40,700 cusecs, while the outflow stood at 7,000 cusecs, the Irsa date showed.

The releases at Kalabagh, Taunsa, Guddu and Sukkur were recorded at 383,200 cusecs, 296,900 cusecs, 282,800 cusecs and 213,400 cusecs, respectively. The authority said 43,500 cusecs of water was released from the Kabul River at Nowshera, while the Chenab River recorded a release of 90,400 cusecs at Marala.

The PDMA said the sixth spell of rains continued until Friday and urged citizens to adopt precautionary measures in view of the prevailing weather and flood situation. People have been advised to avoid recreational activities around rivers, canals and streams.