Head Mohammadwala dyke blown up to protect Multan
A massive flood torrent is expected to reach Sukkur between September 16 and 17.
MULTAN (Web Desk / Agencies) – Authorities have blown up a strategic dyke to divert raging floodwaters away from Multan, a major agricultural centre of two million people and the main hub for Pakistan s important cotton industry.
A water torrent of 450,000 cusecs is passing through Head Mohammadwala and has reached Sikandri nullah near Multan, inundating several villages including Mamrot Basti Sial, Qasim Bela, Mohammadpur Ghota and Nawabpur.
Meanwhile, all preparations have been finalized to blow up Shershah dyke.
On the other hand, water level in River Chenab at Head Trimmu has decreased but Athara Hazari and adjoining villages are still inundated.
Water level is continuously rising in Indus River. Nishtar Ghat s temporary bridge has been swept away, suspending road link between Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan.
A massive flood torrent is expected to reach Sukkur between September 16 and 17. Due to flood threat, authorities have ordered evacuation in Ghotki, Kashmore, Khairpur, Shikarpur and Larkana’s rural areas.
There is high flooding in River Ravi at Head Sidhnai. Dozens of areas including Toba Tek Sindh, Kamalia, Sahiwal, Harrapa and Chichawatni are still inundated in floodwater.
On Thursday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said more than 1.8 million have been affected by the raging torrents -- a figure that includes both those stranded at home and those who fled after the floods hit.
The floodwaters are moving downstream through Pakistan s Punjab province, inundating huge swathes of farmland in the country’s breadbasket and most prosperous area.
The military, which often plays an important role in disaster relief efforts, said troops had rescued 22,000 people stranded by floodwaters around Punjab and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan has suffered deadly floods around the same time every year since 2010, when the country was hit by the worst inundations in its history.
The waters that year swamped 160,000 square kilometres (62,000 square miles) of land -- an area bigger than England -- and cost the country nearly $10 billion, the equivalent of 6.5 percent of GDP. Around 1,800 people were killed and 20 million affected.
But an analysis this week by Topline Securities, a Karachi-based investment company, said this year’s floods do not appear to be on the same scale.
"Seeing the preliminary numbers... reported by NDMA, magnitude of the flood looks like 2012 and 2013, but much lower than 2010," the report said.
The floods of 2012 killed nearly 600 people and affected 4.6 million, while those in 2013 killed around 300 and affected some 1.5 million.
