Flood hits several Sindh areas

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  • Water level at River Indus soars at Guddu Barrage as Chenab puts several areas in Muzaffargarh district at risk of flooding
  • PM visits Muzaffargarh flood-hit areas, says govt won’t abandon survivors

After wreaking havoc in Punjab, the raging flood is moving towards Sindh and Katcha areas in Kashmore and Kandhkot, submerging several areas.

According to reports, the water level in Indus River has soared at Guddu Barrage while the violent waters of Chenab, after drowning large swathes of land in Muzaffargarh tehsil, are now posing a threat to rural areas of Jatoi and Alipur tehsils in Muzaffargarh district.

The water flow at Panjnad Headworks in Bahawalpur district is rising, but the discharge of 413,000 cusecs on Tuesday was said to be within manageable limits.

According to sources at Flood Forecasting Division (FFD), there will be a maximum flood of about 500,000 cusecs in Indus that will pass through Guddu and Sukkur barrages.

The danger of high flood at Guddu and Sukkur had subsided after dykes were breached between Qadirabad and Panjnad, an official said. The designed capacities of the two barrages were 1.2 million and 900,000 cusecs, respectively, the flow of 500,000 cusecs, and even more, would not be a problem, he added.

The Trimmu barrage in Jhang district, which saw a peak of 600,000 cusecs, was now in low flood of 150,000 cusecs.

MOUNTING HEALTH CRISIS:

Meanwhile, health workers were scrambling Tuesday to manage a mounting health crisis nearly two weeks after massive flooding engulfed much of Kashmir, where they are treating cases of diarrhoea, skin allergies and fungus as they hope the stagnant waters do not create conditions for more serious disease outbreaks.

Countless bloated livestock carcasses were floating across the waterlogged Himalayan region. Many residents, warned by experts to avoid the floodwaters, were rationing water bottles brought by aid workers every few days.

The flooding has hit more than 3,000 villages in both the Kashmir and Punjab regions, where at least 328 people have died and 505,254 have been rescued.

PM ASSURES REHABILITATION:

During his visit to flood-hit areas in Muzaffargarh, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Tuesday said the government would continue to provide assistance to the flood affected people until they are able to stand on their own feet.

“I can feel the pain and suffering [the] people are going through and government will not leave [them] alone in these testing times,” he said while addressing a gathering at a relief camp.

NDMA SAYS RESCUE OPERATION IN FULL SWING:

Ahmad Kamal, spokesperson for NDMA, has said that rescue and relief efforts were continuing in full swing in the calamity hit areas of Punjab.

Talking to Radio Pakistan, Kamal said that 20.4 million people have been affected by recent floods in 38 districts of Punjab.

He said that the floods have affected 23 districts in Punjab, 10 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and five in Gilgit-Baltistan.

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