1.1 million hit by floods in Punjab

Districts of Jhang, Chiniot, and Hafizabad are the worst-hit areas

Last updated: September 15, 2018 | 18:57

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AFP

Islamabad: Around 1.1 million people have been affected by heavy monsoon rains and floods in Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, the head of the national disaster management agency said on Friday.

Major General Saeed Aleem told a federal cabinet meeting that the death toll from rains and floods in Punjab has risen to 274, according to the state radio.

With the Chenab River in high spate, the districts of Jhang, Chiniot, and Hafizabad were the worst hit of the 10 districts affected by floods in the province.

The imminent passage of 600,000 to 700,000 cusecs of water from Panjnad Headworks is likely to inundate several areas including Rahim Yar Khan, Multan and Muzaffargarh districts.

A total of 18 helicopters and 574 boats are being used to rescue marooned people and 360 relief camps have been set up in the province.

Army relief and rescue operation were continuing in flood-hit areas in Jhang, Multan, Bahwalpur and Rahim Yar Khan districts, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement.

Troops have dropped 52.176 tonnes of rations from helicopters in Jhang, Multan and Bahawalpur.

Since the start of flood relief operations, 29,295 people have been rescued by army troops using helicopters and boats.

An aerial view of flooded areas on the outskirts of Multan, Punjab province, Pakistan, 11 September 2014. Pakistani authorities were struggling to protect the historic city of Multan from raging flood waters on 12 September, while in India-administered Kashmir, the focus turned from rescue to getting essential supplies to the thousands stranded or homeless. Troops and rescue workers were evacuating people from Multan, Pakistan's fifth-largest city, in Punjab province, as officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (DMA) warned rivers would remain flooded for another week. Around 280 people have been killed in Pakistan's Punjab and Pakistan-administered Kashmir region, a DMA spokesman said.

This photograph taken from a Pakistan Army helicopter shows an aerial view of flood-affected residents standing outside their home surrounded by encroaching floodwaters on the outskirts of Multan on September 12, 2014. Pakistani authorities moved to protect two major cities from raging floodwaters, readying explosives to divert swollen rivers, in a crisis which has hit nearly two million people. The floods and landslides from days of heavy monsoon rains have now claimed more than 450 lives in Pakistan and India, with hospitals struggling to cope with the disaster.

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