Daily Times

Floodwaters released by India into the Chenab River reached Khanki Barrage early on Friday, inundating thousands of acres of farmland located along the banks of the river in Wazirabad, a private TV channel reported.

Pakistan’s eastern neighbor, which saw heavy rains in recent weeks, has been shedding large water loads into the Chenab River unannounced. As a result, it has caused high flood with an estimated flow rate of 217,000 cusecs at Marala at its peak. It has now subsided to around 142,000 cusecs. The daily bulletin by the Indus River System Authority – which monitors water flow in all waterways of the country, noted that the mean upstream discharge at Marala in the Chenab was 158,671 cusecs. The mean downstream discharge was 140,665 cusecs.

A notification has been issued to the relevant flood relief institutions to start a rehabilitation drive in the affected area as soon as possible. The flood waters raged towards the Qadirabad Barrage in Gujranwala, with a mean flow estimated at 196,000 cusecs. The threat of high flood now also loomed over Jhang.

Separately, a temporary bailey bridge installed over the Uchar nullah stream near the Karakoram Highway in Upper Kohistan’s Dasu area was swept away by flash floods triggered by torrential rainfall on Friday, disconnecting Gilgit-Baltistan from the rest of the country. The bridge was located near the residential camps of the 4,500 megawatt Dasu Hydropower Project. Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman also confirmed the development, saying that the “compact bridge had been washed off in the flood surge”. “Karakoram Highway is blocked both sides right now. No buses are allowed for now on Babusar road. All deputy commissioners of the area need to remain vigilant. The bridge was not resilient,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, in an advisory, the National Highway Authority (NHA) said that the Karakoram Highway was two-way blocked for all types of traffic due to massive flash flood at the Uchar nullah. It said that NHA and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) teams had been mobilised at the site for restoration of traffic link. “Travellers planning to move ahead of Dasu from and to Gilgit and other areas, are requested to use alternate route via Kaghan and Babusar Pass for both ways of traffic,” the authority added.

Dasu Assistant Commissioner (AC) Hafiz Muhammad Waqar said that the bailey bridge had been temporarily installed last week after the RCC bridge over the nullah had been washed away by floods. He also feared that if a steel bridge was installed in the area again, that too would be washed away in the upcoming spell of rainfall.