The authorities in Punjab have blown up dykes in order to save two major cities as the raging floodwater continued to sweep village after village, destroy standing crops, uproot people on Friday.Amid the widespread destruction, the water level started to recede in Ravi River at Shahdara near Lahore after night-long chaos during which a number of localities were evacuated.

The catastrophic flooding has so far claimed 20 lives, destroyed crops on hundreds of thousands of acres of land which runs into billions of rupees losses along with thousands of mudhouses being swept away and infrastructure decimated. Punjab PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia said that floods have claimed lives of at least 20 people.

Addressing the media in Lahore, Kathia said “Most of the deaths occurred due to drowning and were reported mostly in Gujranwala division,” adding no loss of life was reported due to any negligence in rescue services.He announced the Punjab government will give one million rupees to each victim’s family as compensation.

Noting the magnitude of the situation, Kathia said that they made every possible effort to rescue people, whether via helicopters or boats.The Punjab government has launched one of its largest evacuation operations in recent years, as floodwaters affected over 1.46 million people across the province, with the Chenab River expected to swell to dangerous levels at Head Trimmu.

Extremely high floods in Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab rivers have also destroyed standing crops on vast swathes of land as the province is battling its worst flooding in four decades, which has caused havoc in 1,769 villages and submerged vital grain crops.  The deputy commissioner also signed a permission note allowing breaching of another dyke in Chhund Bharwana to ease the flood level in River Chenab. A railway track was uprooted at three places in Ragwana area of Chhund Bharwana.

The authorities have blows up dykes to divert raging water from Chenab River to save Jhang and Chiniot cities. High flood level was recorded at Trimmu Barrage in Jhang where water level was gauged at 120,000 cusecs. A meeting chaired by Punjab Chief Secretary in Lahore has decided to breach Rawaz Bridge dyke in order to save Jhang and Chiniot cities as a big flood wave was heading towards the region.

The meeting also decided to deploy additional administrative officers in flood-affected districts. The meeting also decided to evacuate people from areas along the river belts in Nankana, Sheikhupura and Toba TekSingh and issued directives in this regard.

The Jhang deputy commissioner also signed a permission note allowing breaching of another dyke in Chhund Bharwana to ease the flood level in River Chenab. A railway track was uprooted at three places in Ragwana area of Chhund Bharwana.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)