As monsoon showers continued to hit parts of the country, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Sunday reported seven more casualties in Punjab and three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the countrywide death toll since June 26 to above 100.
According to an NDMA daily situation report covering 24 hours up till 1pm, Punjab’s Gujrat and Okara districts recorded two deaths each, while one casualty each was reported from Sargodha, Narowal and Sialkot.
In KP, Hangu registered two deaths and Shangla one. The NDMA specified that the causes behind the casualties were house collapses, electrocutions and drowning.
Moreover, at least 47 people were injured in various districts across Punjab, while three individuals were hurt in KP’s Hangu in the 24-hour period.
The country has recorded 107 deaths in total during the monsoon rains since June 26, the NDMA data showed.
KP recorded the highest number of casualties with 55 deaths, followed by 36 in Punjab, seven in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), six in Balochistan, two in Sindh and one in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
Over half of the deaths were caused by house/roof collapses, NDMA said.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Response Committee (ERC) constituted earlier this month to oversee coordinated response during monsoon held its fifth meeting today at the NDMA headquarters, a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal chaired the meeting via video link. Climate Change Minister Dr Musadik Malik, National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, and IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja also joined the meeting via video link.
NDMA Chairman Lt General Inam Haider Malik, along with senior officials of the authority, representatives of relevant federal and provincial departments, and other key stakeholders, attended the meeting.
The ERC reviewed the implementation status of preparedness measures undertaken by Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs) and other relevant departments, the PMO said.
Provincial representatives presented updates on the availability of relief supplies, emergency communication mechanisms, evacuation planning, response readiness, and inter-agency coordination to ensure timely and effective response during the ongoing monsoon season.
Fresh wet spell likely to commence from July 29
Separately, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) forecast that a fresh wet spell was likely to commence from July 29 in the upper catchments of all major rivers, as well as Islamabad, upper Punjab, AJK, KP and GB.
However, “no flood-generating” rainfall activity was expected till July 28 (Tuesday).
Meanwhile, for up to Monday noon, the PMD predicted “scattered” rain-wind/thunderstorms over the upper catchment of all major rivers, along with Islamabad, AJK and GB.
Here is the province-wise forecast by the Met Office for the 24 hours till around Monday noon:
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Abbottabad, Batagram, Buner, Chitral, Haripur, Kohat, Kohistan, Mansehra, Mardan, Nowshera, Shangla, Swabi, Swat, Tor Ghar and Dir.
Punjab
Attock, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Chakwal, Chiniot, Dera Ghazi Khan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Jhang, Jhelum, Kasur, Khanewal, Khushab, Lahore, Lodhran, Mandi Bahauddin, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Nankana Sahib, Narowal, Okara, Pakpattan, Rawalpindi, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Toba Tek Singh and Vehari.
Sindh
Badin, Hyderabad, Matiari, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tharparkar and Umerkot.
For Karachi, the Met Office, in a separate advisory, forecast cloudy and humid weather with light rain/drizzle and chances of thunderstorms/rain at the outskirts of the city on Sunday.
On Monday and Tuesday, the weather in the metropolis will continue to remain cloudy with chances of isolated drizzle.
Balochistan
Barkhan, Duki, Kalat, Khuzdar, Kohlu, Loralai and Musakhel.
As of 6pm, PMD’s Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) said most major rivers were flowing at either normal or low flood level.
However, River Ravi recorded a medium-level flood with increasing water flows at Sidhnai headworks. The levels at Jassar and Shahdara were normal, while Balloki was in low flood.
River Indus was recorded at normal at three barrages and in low flood at four other points. Jhelum and Sutlej were at normal levels.
Water flows in River Chenab had also subsided, reaching a low-level flood at Marala, Khanki, Qadirabad, and Trimmu barrages.
In its update at 11:30am, the PMD had said that River Indus at Kalabagh, Chashma, Taunsa and Guddu were expected to remain in low flood levels for the next 48 hours.
However, the Met Office placed rivers Chenab and Ravi on a high-risk level on its flood severity scale.
In a statement on Sunday morning, Punjab’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said that while the rivers in the province continued to flood due to rain, the flow in the waterways had remained stable in the previous 24 hours.
PDMA added that there was a medium flood situation in Narowal’s Basantar Nullah while a high-level flood persisted in Wazirabad’s Phalko Nullah, with a flow of 5,000 cusecs.
The PDMA statement also carried its director general’s appeal to citizens residing in the floodplains to immediately evacuate to safer places, adding that the provincial government had made all necessary arrangements for affected areas.
“All basic facilities and medicines will be provided in the flood relief camps,” the PDMA DG was quoted as saying.
In a separate statement, the authority said that 115mm of rain was recorded in Noorpur Thal, 107mm in Gujranwala, 94mm in Gujrat, 68mm in Narowal, 65mm in Mandi Bahauddin, 52mm in Sialkot Airport, 46mm in Okara, 40mm in Jauharabad and 38mm in Sargodha during the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Lahore received 37mm of rainfall, Mangla 37mm, Jhelum 32mm, Sheikhupura 28mm, Hafizabad and Kasur 27mm, Chakwal 20mm, Bahawalnagar 18mm and Khanewal 16mm, the spokesperson said.
“A total of 450 mm of rain was recorded in Lahore over a period of 5 days,” the statement said, adding that Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Attock, Murree and Bahawalpur also received rainfall.
PDMA also cautioned of the risk of flooding in rivers and canals in low-lying areas due to rain, as well as landslides in mountainous areas such as Murree. Heavy rain may also damage mud-brick houses, it added.
