Irrigation department officials told the newspaper Dawn that the bridge had been built by diverting the river six kilometres, and that was the point where the water pressure was increasing. The breach near Muhammadwala head-works seems imminent because of the faulty design of the bridge. If that happens, the floodwaters will affect Multan district, though the city should be safe. Authorities fear breaches at Muhammadwala and Sher Shah (railway) bridges.
Then it is Multan’s turn to face the wrath of the angry waters. This is an area where residents of 35 villages on the banks of Chenab and Sutlej are under threat – 600,000-700,000 cusecs of floodwater is expected to pass through the head-works between Friday and Monday. Over 33,000 people have been evacuated already.Īs the floodwaters reached southern Punjab, army helicopters and boats were on standby at the Panjnad head-works – the confluence of the Indus and its five major tributaries Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority has urged people living along the riverine belt of the Chenab to evacuate as floodwater approaches Multan. Kamboh said the flood situation at Trimmu would persist until Friday.Ī flood emergency has been announced in the surrounding localities of Jhang towards Multan.
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“At present, about 531,000 cusecs of floodwater is passing through the head-works and it is feared that the floodwater will damage Trimmu severely.”Ī torrent of 810,000 cusecs in the Chenab hit Trimmu after devastating Marala, Khanki and Qadirabad. “According to its design, the total capacity of Trimmu is 640,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) but this was reduced to 600,000 cusecs as de-silting of the head-works was not carried out for several years,” he said.
Five districts of Punjab - Sialkot, Gujranwala, Jhelum, Hafizabad and Narowal – have been swamped where a population of 150,000 has been affected.” He added that over a million people have been affected across the country.Ĭhaudhary Muhammad Aslam Kamboh, engineer at the Trimmu head-works, said standing crops of rice, sugarcane and fodder on 88,895 acres were destroyed in Jhang and adjacent areas. While a major part of Jhang city has been saved by breaching parts of the Trimmu head-works, road links from Jhang to Chiniot, Sargodha, Shorkot, Multan, Bhakkar, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Khushab and Mianwali have been destroyed.Īhmad Kamal, spokesperson of Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said: “Trimmu has been saved at a high cost. Standing crops on more than 100,000 acres of farmlands were destroyed.Īccording to official estimates around 700,000 inhabitants of Jhang district have been affected, with a significant number without shelter. As a result, more than 300 villages in Athara Hazari and Ahmad Pur Sial tehsils (sub-divisions of a district) were inundated by over 20 feet of water.
The flow of water in the Jhelum and the Chenab – which meet near Jhang – exceeded the carrying capacity of the Trimmu head-works. As Sindh braces for floods, large areas around the city of Jhang have already been submerged.
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