LAHORE, Sept 4: Spate in river Chenab and seasonal nullahs inundated nearly 200 villages in Sialkot, Gujranwala and Mandi Bahauddin districts on Monday. The flooding badly affected crops over hundreds of thousands of acres besides displacing a large population.

Two people drowned in Sialkot while a woman died and four others sustained injuries when three more rain-soaked houses collapsed in Lahore on Monday. The Punjab capital and several other districts were battered by 36-hour rain that ended on Sunday morning

Authorities warned areas downstream Chenab (which is in high flood also because of incessant rains in northwestern parts of India along Pakistan). District administrations of all the areas along the water route have been told to evacuate people.

According to metrological warning, Chenab may enter very high flood (with a massive 200,000 to 400,000 cusecs of water) in the next 24 hours, and hit areas of Hafizabad, Jhang and Sargodha districts. The river is currently in ‘very high’ flood at Khanki and Qadirabad and in medium flood at Marala.

In Sialkot, a farmer drowned while 49 people were rescued after an overloaded boat capsized in river Tavi near Saidpur Pattan in Bajwat, while a shephard was swept away by water gushing out from Chenab in Sambrial tehsil.

Reports said that almost 100 villages were submerged in Sialkot, 80 in Gujranwala and 12 in Mandi Bahauddin districts.

Administrations of these districts said that vulnerable areas had already been evacuated.