The flood crisis in south Punjab intensified on Friday as with rivers Chenab and Sutlej breaching embankments and submerging dozens of villages. This flood spell has claimed at least 68 lives across the province as per the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and left scores injured.
River water from the Chenab engulfed large parts of Sher Shah in Multan. Flood waves as high as 12 to 14 feet washed away dozens of settlements. Boats were summoned to evacuate stranded families, who had rushed to their rooftops to escape the flood.
Displaced residents from inundated Basti Khoor have set up camp along the Sikandari canal embankment, where many families are living in the open. Tents are limited, and livestock and household goods are scattered along a one-kilometre stretch near the canal. Rescue and relief teams were yet to reach the site by the time this report was filed.
Meanwhile, Sutlej River swept through dozens of villages in Vehari and Bahawalpur districts. Hundreds of homes, schools and dispensaries were destroyed.
In Vehari, water levels at Head Islam were reported to be 102,000 cusecs, and over 335,000 cusecs at Head Ganda Singh. Discharge at Head Siphon stood at 93,000 cusecs and at Head Mian Haakim outfall touched nearly 200,000 cusecs. Several protective
embankments gave away and Kuttabpur Wagi, Jhoke Fazil, Jhoke Jando, Jhoke Sathu, Kaliya Shah and Hasan Shah villages, among others, were completely submerged.
Similarly in Bahawalpur, the Sutlej caused widespread destruction with over 90% of protective embankments collapsing. The flood water surged into over a 100 villages, as high as 100,000 cusecs at Empress Bridge for instance.Punjab, leaving near 3.9 million people impacted. Of these, 1.8 million people are evacuaees.