LAHORE: At least 118 people have died across the country and 812 others suffered injuries over the past one week as widespread rain and flood in rivers or their tributaries affected life, property and crops over vast areas of land in the plains.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority, 34 people were killed in rain- or flood-related incidents in Punjab, 26 in Sindh, 24 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18 in Balochistan, 12 in Fata and four in Azad Kashmir. As many as 747 people were injured in Punjab, 17 in KP, 26 in Sindh, 17 in Balochistan and five in AJK.
Over 1,700 villages, 11,200 houses and 5,055 people have been affected.
The Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) spotted development of an intense monsoon depression over India’s Orissa state and said it was initially moving to Pakistan, but then changed its direction.
“The depression is very dangerous, but we will be able to say on Wednesday or Thursday whether it will move to Pakistan or not,” FFD chief Riaz Khan told Dawn.
The rivers Indus at Guddu, Chenab at Trimmu and Ravi at Balloki were in medium flood, while the Indus at Taunsa and Sukkur, river Kabul at Nowshera, Ravi at Sidhnai, Sutlej at Ganda Singhwala, Sulemanki and Islam in low flood.
The FFD forecast high flood in the Indus at Guddu, medium flood in Chenab at Trimmu and Sutlej at Ganda Singhwala and high-to-medium flood in Ravi at Balloki over the next 24 hours.
Tarbela dam filled to its capacity while the water level in Mangla dam was slightly below its maximum conservation point.
Floodwater from Ravi and various tributaries submerged 130 industrial units on GT and Lahore roads near Sheikhupura. About 230 villages, a large number of houses, four police posts and crops over a vast area in Ferozewala and Sharaqpur were also submerged.
The floodwater caused considerable losses to the machinery, buildings, raw material and stock of consignments and residential quarters in the industrial units. Cases of snakebite were also reported from the region.
Breaches in Nullah Dek could not be plugged and several villages in tehsil Kamoki were still under deep water.
River Chenab flooded about 350 villages in Jhang and 200 in Muzaffargarh, Multan and Jalalpur Bhattian. Villages along the river in Multan were also affected.
Medium flood in river Sutlej damaged crops and settlements in several villages of Vehari’s Basti Farid, displacing thousands of people. Floodwater also damaged crops and 1,712 houses in Vehari.
Over 60 villages in Burewala Luddan were inundated. Most families in the villages refused to shift to safe places and took refuge on the rooftops of their marooned houses.
A portion of river Sutlej’s spur near Head Balloki washed away, submerging six villages and damaging crops and settlements. Kilchi, Kharapar, Ilo Anna, Rasool Nagar and Chandolwalian Jugian were also affected.
River Sutlej flooded 96 villages, affecting 1,700 families and crops over 48,000 acres of land in Kasur, Chunian and Pattoki.
Floodwater from the Indus entered villages and riverine areas in Jampur and Rajanpur and in Sindh.
Tributaries in Azad Kashmir’s Bagh area were flooded, forcing people to move to safe places.
There was no significant rain in the country on Tuesday as feeding of moisture from the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea stopped because of the intensified depression over north Orissa.
Noorpur Thal received 29mm rain, Garhi Dupatta 12mm, Skardu and Chitral 8mm each, Muzaffarabad and Gupis 4mm each, Astore 2mm and Balakot and Cherat 1mm each.
The Met office forecast isolated thunderstorm/rain over Kashmir, northern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, D.G. Khan, Bahawalpur, Zhob, Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpur Khas divisions over the next 24 hours.