Monsoon floods: Surge heads south after swamping central Punjab

Red alert issued in South Punjab; hundreds of villages submerged as provincial govt declares flood emergency.

ISLAMABAD/ MULTAN/ FAISALABAD/ LAHORE:

Authorities on Sunday issued a red alert in South Punjab in anticipation of monsoon floods that swamped hundreds of villages and hamlets as the Chenab and Jhelum rivers burst their banks following torrential rains in the central Punjab districts of Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujranwala, Hafizabad and Sheikhupura.

The provincial government declared an emergency in the districts where floodwater submerged villages and towns, destroyed crops on large swathes of farmlands and left thousands of people marooned. The flash floods triggered by heavy rains have caused widespread devastation in Punjab, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan. According to an official tally, nearly 200 people have been killed thus far, most of them in Punjab and AJK.

The deluge is rampaging its way through Gujrat, Gujranwala and Sialkot districts while Headworks Khanki, Marala and Qadirabad are in high flood in the Chenab River. The flooding is now threatening the city of Hafizabad. Government officials said if the water level crossed the 900,000-cusec mark at Head Marala, preventive dykes would be breached to save the headworks which could submerge 36 more villages of Gujrat.

A dangerously high flood level was witnessed in Gujranwala near Head Khanki. The district administration breached a temporary dyke built for a new barrage to save more villages. At least 200 villages came under water in Gujrat, Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin while Wazirabad city was also swamped as the Chenab River broke its banks.

Thousands of people are reportedly stranded in 85 remote villages of Bajwat which has been cut off from the rest of Sialkot district due to flooding in the Chenab and Ravi Rivers. Officials from the Sialkot Irrigation Department told The Express Tribune that floodwaters destroyed crops on hundreds of acres of land in Randheer and Habeebabad union councils where over 200 cattle also drowned.

Red alert in South Punjab

As the torrents headed south after submerging central Punjab, army troops have been deployed at major dykes and embankments across South Punjab, according to military officials. They told The Express Tribune that a flood warning has been issued in the most vulnerable districts of Multan and Muzaffargarh.

“Food rations, rescue boats and trucks have been sent to the region to evacuate villages and hamlets along the Chenab River,” said Col Ijaz, the director of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Multan Zone.

The district coordination officer (DCO) of Multan, Zahid Saleem Gondal, told The Express Tribune Head Muhammadwala could sustain one million cusecs of water and “we are expecting less than that water in the Chenab River”.

The provincial government has set up four control rooms and flood monitoring rooms in Multan and Muzaffargarh districts. Provincial Minister for Prisons Abdul Waheed Araian said the government has also prepared a contingency plan for any emergency. “We will breach the National Highway towards Muzaffargarh, Shershah Bypass and Northern Bypass to save Multan city and the rural population,” he told The Express Tribune.

A flood alert has also been issued in Rahim Yar Khan and Rajanpur, the most sensitive districts in South Punjab where the Indus River meets four other rivers of Punjab.

Over 100 villages submerged in Jhang, Chiniot

District administrations in Jhang and Chiniot have declared an emergency as a flood torrent carrying 850,000 cusecs of water is expected to pass through Head Trimmu. More than 100 villages in the two districts have been submerged while 250,000 residents of Athara Hazari tehsil of Jhang have been evacuated and population in more than 30 villages of Chiniot has been left stranded.

DCO Chiniot Dr Muhammad Irshad said the Chenab River would be in exceptionally high flood as it would see 850,000 cusecs of water during the next eight to ten hours. “This year’s flood has broken all previous records as such an alarming situation was never caused by flooding since 1992,” he added.

Flood forecast for Indus

According to the latest hydrological conditions, the Indus River is likely to attain high to very high flood level from September 14 to 15, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said quoting the Flood Forecasting Division. The authorities have been asked to put in place necessary measures to avoid any loss of life and property.

The NDMA said that exceptionally heavy rains, coupled with unprecedented high flood discharges from across the border since September 3, resulted in exceptionally high floods at Marala, Khanki and Qadirabad in the Chenab River, and high to very high flood level in the Jhelum River. In this scenario, exceptionally high flood flows in excess of 900,000 cusecs discharged through Head Marala Saturday night inundating surrounding areas.

Rescue & Relief operations

The NDMA said that 2,100 tents, 10,400 packs of food hampers, 14,000 bottles of mineral waters, 24 boats, 30 life jackets and 46 de-watering sets have been distributed in the flood-hit regions. The authority added that rescue and relief operations were ongoing in the vicinity of Wazirabad, Sohdara and Vineke Tamar areas of Gujranwala and Hafizabad districts.

The ISPR said that army troops have rescued more than 6,500 stranded people since the start of the rescue operation. Besides ground troops, 300 boats and five helicopters have been engaged in rescue and relief activities in Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Chinot, Mandi Bahaudin  and surrounding areas.

Food packs were dropped by army helicopters for people marooned at various places in Chiniot, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Mandi Bahauddin. Army troops have also been moved to Multan and DG Khan, Layyah, Sahiwal, Head Trimmu to deal with any crisis-like situation.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2014.