ISLAMABAD (TNS) Rescue and relief activities of civil and military institutions are ongoing on the instructions of the Prime Minister, on the other hand, the United Nations has released an emergency aid of 600,000 dollars to deal with the flood disasters in Pakistan. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the United Nations has released aid for the flood victims from the emergency relief fund. The aid will provide shelters, medical assistance, cash assistance for employment, hygiene products and clean drinking water for the flood victims.
It should be remembered that Pakistan is facing a flood situation due to climate change, currently millions of people have been displaced in Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab. Earlier, several people lost their lives in the flood disaster caused by melting glaciers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while hundreds of houses were damaged. The National Emergency Operation Center is fully operational for 24 hours and is in contact with civil and military institutions. The National Emergency Operation Center has issued a flood alert, saying that due to the arrival of trains, the flow of the Chenab River is expected to increase significantly. The National Emergency Operation Center is fully operational for 24 hours and the NDMA is in contact with civil and military institutions. More than 140 villages were submerged in floodwaters in the Phalia tehsil of Mandi Bahauddin. The Punjab government is conducting rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected areas. According to the alert issued by the NEOC, the water flow at Trimu Barrage is expected to be 700,000 to 800,000 cusecs at around 4:00 pm on August 31 and there is a risk of severe flood conditions. The possible severe flood conditions will affect Jhang and its adjacent areas. The relays will reach Panjnad by the afternoon of September 3, where a flow of 650,000 to 700,000 cusecs is expected and severe flood conditions are expected. Hafizabad, Chiniot, Multan, Panjnad and Bahawalpur may be affected by the flood situation and instructions have been issued for evacuation in these districts. The 18 Hazari area on the left bank of the Chenab River can be used as a breaching site to deal with possible flood conditions. According to the NEOC, the water level in the Ravi River is expected to rise rapidly and a high level flood of between 150,000 and 200,000 cusecs is expected at Blocki Barrage at 7 am on August 29. By September 1, the flood relay will reach Sadhanai, which is likely to remain at the dangerous level of 125,000 to 150,000 cusecs. According to the NEOC, the high-risk union councils include Shahdara, Kot Mahbu, Jia in Lahore. Musa, Aziz Colony, Qaiser Town, Faisal Park, Dheer, Kot Begum are included. Similarly, the expected severe floods in the Ravi River are likely to affect Faizpur Khu, Dhamike, Daka, Burj Attari, Kot Abdul Mal in Sheikhupura, Ferozewala, Ganeshpur in Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib area and Phul Nagar, Rakh Khan Ke, Nati Khalis, Limbe Jagir, Kot Sardar, Hanjray Kalan, Bhattarwal Kalan, Nowshera Gaye in Kasur district. In addition, Ghauspur, Mian Channu, Omid Garh, Kot Islam, Abdul Hakeem, Kabir Wala in Khanewal district may be affected by floods. It should be noted that the devastating floods in the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab rivers have already displaced millions of people from their homes and a large part of Punjab province has been submerged. The floods have severely damaged infrastructure and destroyed millions of acres of agricultural land. According to official data, more than 150,000 people and 35,000 Livestock have been shifted to safer places, while relief camps, medical and veterinary camps have been set up in the affected areas. Authorities say that more than 600,000 people have been affected, while according to UNOCHA, the death toll in this monsoon season is almost 3 times higher than last year. Rescue 1122 spokesperson Farooq Ahmed said that 39,638 people have been shifted to safer places from different districts, including Sialkot, Sargodha, Chiniot, Gujranwala, Nankana, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujarat, Lahore, Narowal, Kasur, Okara, Pakpattan, Bahawalnagar, Vehari, Bahawalpur and Lodhran. Similarly, more than 150,000 people have been affected in 333 villages located on the banks of the Chenab River, including 133 in Sialkot, 16 in Wazirabad, 20 in Gujarat, 12 in Mandi Bahauddin, 100 villages in Chiniot and 52 villages in Jhang have been severely affected. 380,768 citizens of 335 villages located on the banks of the Sutlej River have been affected by the floods. 104 relief camps and 105 medical camps are working to help and care for the victims. The cities affected by the Sutlej floods include Kasur, Okara, Pakpattan, Multan, Vehari, Bahawalnagar and Bahawalpur. 72 villages and 450,000 people in Kasur district, 12 in Pakpattan, 23 in Vehari, 75 in Bahawalnagar and 15 in Bahawalpur have been severely affected. The devastation caused by the floods resulting from the overflowing of rivers in Punjab continues. More than 140 villages were submerged by floodwaters in the Phalia tehsil of Mandi Bahauddin, while the breach of the protective dam at Bahu Manga has inundated houses. It was swept away, and hundreds of families are waiting for help under the open sky.On the other hand, the Punjab Home Department has called in the army for relief activities in Lodhran. Earlier, the army was called in Lahore, Kasur, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Narowal, Okara, Sargodha and Hafizabad. Pakistan Army troops have been called in to assist the district administration and protect human lives. The NEOC has directed that people living on the banks of rivers and waterways should immediately move to safer places, and follow the instructions of the local administration immediately and contact relief teams in emergency situations. The inflow of water at Qadirabad Barrage in Hafizabad has decreased and the inflow of water at Qadirabad Barrage has been recorded at 660,000 cusecs. Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says that the government is trying to deal with the sudden situation. In difficult times, the Pakistani nation becomes united. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, NDMA, PDMA, Rescue 1122, the district administration and the Pakistan Army worked together in the flood situation. Such exemplary communication is rarely seen. National response was also given in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, measures are also underway in Punjab. Despite the most difficult situation, we did excellent teamwork, which resulted in minimal loss of life. During the briefing in Wazirabad, Attaullah Tarar said that people trapped in the floods in Punjab were safely evacuated and their lives were saved. The survey of the broken roads will be completed today, and wherever electricity problems occurred, it is also being resolved.
There was a lot of loss of livestock due to the floods in Punjab, a survey will also be conducted for this, after which all possible help will be provided to the owners.
We realize that people are in trouble, our sympathy is with them, and efforts are being made to return those who were displaced to their areas as soon as possible. The Federal Information Minister warned that the threat of rains is still not over, people need to be made aware of this, there is a risk of diseases spreading due to accumulated water, which is why steps are being taken to prevent it. On the other hand, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that increasing the capacity of water storage is the need of the hour to deal with natural disasters, increasing the capacity of existing dams including Diamer Bhasha Dam is the need of the hour. The Prime Minister was given a detailed briefing on the recent flood waves and the affected areas. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Federal Minister for Planning Chaudhry Ahsan Iqbal, provincial and federal ministers, Chairman NDMA, Chief Secretary and IG Police, among other high officials, were also present on the occasion. The Prime Minister said that the natural disasters that have occurred in recent weeks first affected Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and have now wreaked havoc in the plains of Punjab, resulting in the loss of human lives. He prayed for forgiveness for the deceased and patience for the bereaved families. Shahbaz Sharif appreciated the efforts of the administration and institutions under the leadership of the Punjab Chief Minister in dealing with the flood situation and said that PDMA, Rescue 1122, Health Department, Police and other departments are working day and night, which is commendable.
The Prime Minister also paid tribute to the services of the Pakistan Army, NDMA and local leadership, who helped the people by providing helicopters, boats and other necessary facilities. The Prime Minister said that it was teamwork that resulted in a large-scale reduction in losses. Recalling the flood crisis of 2022, he said that Sindh and Balochistan were severely affected at that time and Pakistan had to bear billions of dollars in losses. Pakistan is among the countries that are targeted by climate change and natural disasters, so it may face such a situation in the coming years as well. The federation and all provinces will have to work together to meet this challenge. The biggest solution is to increase water storage capacity so that flash floods and losses can be controlled. For this purpose, work must be started immediately on increasing the capacity of dams and storage capacity, and increasing the capacity of existing dams including Diamer Bhasha Dam is the need of the hour. If practical steps are taken from today, it will take many years to achieve this big goal. Every life is very precious to us. People should take precautionary measures. Our full relief and rescue operations are underway. After the rains in India, when the water level in the dams was filled, they opened the spillways of their dams, which created a flood situation in our rivers. There is a flood situation in 3 rivers of Punjab. There has also been a lot of rain in Punjab. We will compensate for all kinds of losses of our affected people. I have never seen so much water in the Ravi. It is very important to build infrastructure to store water. We are working on how to store flood water, now the water flow is starting to decrease, we should go beyond politics and take decisions for the betterment of the people. Earlier, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz boarded a boat at Shahdara and reviewed the flood situation and relief activities.
