Situation critical at Panjnad, breach designed to save Jalalpur Pirwala

ISLAMABAD: Waterflow was rising again at Panjnad — the confluence of Chenab and Sutlej rivers — on Wednesday as populated areas in Multan and surrounding areas, including Jalalpur Pirwala, still faced the threat of dyke breaches.

Later on Wednesday evening, authorities decided to make a breach in the Uch Sharif Road for protecting Jalalpur Pirwala city from the looming threat of being inundated by the accumulated floodwaters of Chenab and Sutlej.

As far as selecting the point for controlled breach is concerned, the released waters would submerge a sparsely-populated area with farmlands and semi-desert surroundings.

The move comes after Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz reached Jalalpur Pirwala to gain first-hand knowledge about the situation in perhaps the worst-affected part of Punjab.

COMABINED WRATH

Meanwhile, locals and several irrigation experts had been calling for a controlled breach at this spot commonly known as the Vehari Bridge where the authorities inadvertently closed a natural stream that always helped in the past in dealing with dangerous flood levels.

It used to be the Vehari Bridge that allowed the floodwaters to pass through, but the construction of Jalalpur Pirwala-Uch Sharif road meant that it became part of that roadway.

Floodwaters have already hundreds of villages and settlements in the downstream of Trimmu. But the worsening situation at Panjnad means raging floodwaters would affect more and more land and people.

Meanwhile, it is not just the pressure at Panjnad isn’t just affecting Multan district, with vast areas in Muzaffargarh in the north and Bahawalpur and Vehari in the south and east have faced the combined wrath of Chenab and Sutlej.

Also on Wednesday, the federal cabinet with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair approved in the principle the imposition of climate emergency as well as agriculture emergency in the country.

The move comes as Pakistan is facing the unprecedented devastation caused by simultaneous floods in Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej, which has devastated crops on millions of acres.

During the meeting, the cabinet suggested ways and means to providing financial assistance to farmers and rehabilitating infrastructure.

CHENAB + SULTLEJ

On the other hand, the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) data at 4pm on Wednesday showed that Chenab was in very high flood with a flow 543,186 cusecs.

Upstream at Trimmu, the river was in medium flow — 244,308 cusecs.

However, the waterflow at Panjnad jumped to 581,913 cusecs by 7pm. At Trimmu, it decreased to 237,121 cusecs as Chenab had normal flow from Chiniot northwards.

Read more: Southern Punjab faces worst of floods, breach planned near Multan

Earlier, the authorities had shelved the plan, at least temporarily, to breach the Sher Shah Bund — a protective levee south of Multan to protect the historic city after waterflow fell below the extremely dangerous level.

But with southern and central Punjab already inundated from Chiniot to Jalalpur Pirwala, there is very little or no room for controlled breaches to release water, except in the east and south of Jalalpur Pirwala city. Even more importantly, the record and sustained flood in Sutlej is multiplying pressure at the Panjnad Headworks infrastructure.

Although waterflow has declined significantly in Sutlej, the river was still in very high flood — 182,188 cusecs — at Ganda Singh Wala in Kasur.

In downstream of Ganda Singh Wala, the Sutlej River was still in high flood at Sulemanki and Islam — 132,211 cusecs and 121,010 cusecs respectively.

MARYAM IN JALALPUR PIRWALA

On Wednesday, Maryam visited the flood-hit region of Jalalpur Pirwala and met with the people uprooted from their homes.

She feedback and first-hand knowledge from the citizens, promising to compensate whose homes had been damaged or destroyed and the cattle lost in the floods.

During her visit, officials briefed the chief minister rescue and relief efforts as she directed the authorities to remain in the field until the floodwaters receded.

In this connection, she said Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb would personally supervise the rescue operations by stay in the area.