Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: River Jhelum is expected to flow at a peak of high to very high flood levels at Mangla (Inflow) while river Chenab is also likely to experience high flooding at Marala, Khanki and Qadirabad during the next 24 hours, noted the daily report by Federal Flood Commission (FFC).

On Sunday, rivers Indus and Kabul were also found to flow in low flood at Tarbela and Guddu and Warsak respectively while other main rivers including Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej were flowing normally according to FFC. Tarbela and Mangla reservoirs also stood at elevations of 1526.90 feet and 1236.50 feet respectively, which were merely 23.10 feet and 5.50 feet below their respective Maximum Conservation Levels of 1550.00 feet and 1242.00 feet. When compared to last year, the combined live storage capacity of Tarbela, Chashma and Mangla reservoirs was found to have decreased from 13.425 MAF to 12.468 MAF.

The Flood Forecasting Division, Lahore, additionally reported that the trough of Westerly Wave found yesterday still prevailed over the northern parts of the country, while the Monsoon Low-Pressure Area found yesterday also persisted over Northeastern Madhya Pradesh (India). Seasonal Low continued to prevail over Northern Balochistan, it noted. In addition, moderate moist currents from the Bay of Bengal were found to have penetrated up to 5000 feet into the upper parts of the country. Scattered thunderstorm/rain with isolated heavy falls is also predicted to occur in the upper catchments of rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej during the next 24 hours. Scattered showers are also likely in the upper catchments of River Indus, which include Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Lahore and Bahawalpur Divisions in Punjab as well as areas in Sindh, Peshawar, Kohat and D.I Khan Divisions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and North-eastern Balochistan during the same period, which might generate flash floods in local nullahs (the tributaries of Rivers Chenab & Ravi) and Hill Torrents of D.G Khan and Kohat Divisions in the next 24 days.

The report also predicted scattered thunderstorm/rain with isolated heavy falls over the upper catchments of all major rivers, which include Northern and North-eastern Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the next 72 hours. Significant rainfall of as much as 112 mm in Hyderabad City, 77 mm in Hyderabad Airport, 58 mm in Kotli, 39 mm in Mirpur Khas, 38 mm in Masroor Karachi, 22 mm in North Karachi, 10 mm in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Karachi, 37 mm in Sialkot Cantt, 34 mm in Balakot, 29 mm in Palandri, 26 mm in Muzaffarabad, 25 mm in Risalpur, 25 mm in Garhidupatta, 23 mm in Noorpur Thal, 22 mm in Mangla, 21 mm in Murree, 18 mm in Johar Town, Lahore, 18 mm in Shaheed Benazirabad, 17 mm in Kasur, 15 mm in Zain Sanghar, 15 mm in D.G. Khan, 15 mm in Chakwal, 15 mm in Hattian Bala, 14 mm in Aik Nullah (Ura), 14 mm in Domel, 14 mm in Chhor, 13 mm in Chattar Kallas and 11 mm in Talhatta was also reported by the Flood Forecasting Division, Lahore during the past 24 hours.