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| September 04, 2006 | Monday | Sha'aban 10, 1427 |
Fresh peak of high flood in Chenab
LAHORE, Sept 3: The two-day widespread heavy rain finally stopped during the early hours of Sunday as the monsoon system which generated it moved out of the region but a fresh westerly wave sent a new peak of high flood in the Chenab at Marala in the evening.
People in Lahore and elsewhere in the central Punjab sighed a relief after sun peeped through thick clouds. The local Met office expected more rain in the morning because of the fresh westerly wave. But in the evening it said the wave had weakened and there were no more chances of any widespread downpour.
However, Chief Meteorologist Shaukat Awan said another well-marked low had developed over the Bay of Bengal and it was likely to give mild monsoon activity in the central Punjab and over the catchments of Eastern rivers in the next two to three days.
“The spell of widespread flood-generating rain is over as the well-marked monsoon low which gave it along with a strong westerly has moved into Nepal after getting further weak. The westerly too has entered Himalayas and Pakistan is now out of their range,” Mr Awan said.
The Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) said the Chenab at Marala was in high flood on Sunday morning but afterwards the water level started receding. However, it was again in high flood in the evening because of the arrival of a new peak of 340,000 to 380,000 cusecs, higher than the earlier, from the Indian held Kashmir.
“It is high flood and it would remain so in the river from Marala to Qadirabad till Sept 7. All the government agencies and army have been issued a warning so that they could adopt preventive measures and provide assistance to people in case of any flood-related emergency along the path of the swollen river,” Mr Awan said.
He said Pakistan came to know through Indus Basin Water Treaty Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah in the morning that a peak of 425,000 was recorded in the river at Akhnoor (India) and it would enter Pakistan at Marala in the evening. “This was a very high flood peak but we have luckily received 380,000 cusecs which, though on the higher side, is high flood level,” he said.
Mr Awan said the FFD came to know through Mr Shah that India was not releasing any water in the Ravi and Sutlej and, therefore, there was no chance of any flood in them.
The Ravi received only 36,000 cusecs of water at Jassar, which is its entry point, which was much below the low flood level. The Sutlej was expected to receive less than 50,000 cusecs during the next 24 hours and it too would be below the low flood level. —Intikhab Hanif
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