August 04, 2008	Monday	Sha'aban 1 429

MULTAN, Aug 3: Six people are reported to have died and two children are missing after hill torrents caused by widespread rain flooded Rajanpur area. Dozens of villages have been submerged and over 100,000 people have been displaced.

The dead have been identified as Arsalan, 5, Imtiaz and Saifullah from Chak Shaheed while three bodies, including that of a six-month-old child, have been found near Chak Chundo.

A man named Soba Ghokhani died of snake bite in Chak Chundo and three other snake bite victims were admitted to the district headquarters hospital in Rajanpur.

The hill torrents hit Rajanpur and Taunsa tehsil in Dera Ghazi Khan on Saturday, sweeping away hundreds of mud houses and huts. The cotton crop on over 100,000 acres has been affected in Rajanpur alone.

Breaches were reported in Dajal, Dhundhi Qutab and Qadra canals and 12 link canals in the district, submerging more villages.

Thousands of flood-stricken people have been moved to higher ground.

Helicopters were used to airlift Chinese nationals working on the Khichi Canal.

According to reports received from Rojhan, the railway track between Shahwali and Rojhan has been inundated.

There were reports of an outbreak of gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and malaria but the affected people are getting little medical aid because the district administration has set up only a few relief camps.

Claiming that water discharge had been reduced, Rajanpur DCO Aslam Janjua said that the flood had damaged crops over 40,000 acres and destroyed between 600 and 700 houses, adding that the full extent of losses could be ascertained after the flood water subsided.

He said there had been only one confirmed casualty in Jampur tehsil and 15 relief camps had been set up in the district.

He said that relief and rescue work was continuing and the civil administration was providing food to the displaced people while some food packets had been dropped from helicopters.

A number of villages were inundated in Taunsa in Dera Ghazi Khan by flooding in Vehoa and Kora hill streams. More than 150 mud houses were swept away. DCO Dera Ghazi Khan Capt (retd) Asadullah was not available for comments.

Khawaja Sallahuddin, the tehsil Nazim of Taunsa, said that despite meagre resources, the tehsil administration had undertaken relief work. He said that they were waiting for help from the Punjab government and people would get compensation after a proper survey.

APP Adds: The Flood Forecasting Division in Lahore said that the water flow in River Chenab was likely to reach the high flood level by Monday or Tuesday.

According to the division, Indus and Ravi rivers are in low flood at Guddu and Balloki, respectively. All other rivers were flowing below low flood level.

The flow in River Chenab is likely to reach between 200,000 and 280,000 cusecs at Marala, 220,000 and 280,000 cusecs at Khanki and between 200,000 and 260,000 cusecs at Qadirabad.

The division forecast that low-lying areas near Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin might be inundated.

The inflow in Indus at Tarbela is 248,000 cusecs while outflow is 124,300 cusecs; the inflow at Chashma is 220,300 cusecs while outflow is 200,800 cusecs. The river is flowing at 220,200 cusecs at Guddu while the outflow there is 201,500 cusecs.

The inflow in Jhelum river is 24,300 cusecs and the outflow is 22,300 cusecs; Chenab is flowing in at 75,100 cusecs at Marala while the outflow there is 43,600; inflow at Balloki in Ravi is 52,600 cusecs and the outflow 21,600 cusecs and water is flowing in at Sulemanki in Sutlej at the rate of 18,900 cusecs with the outflow at 4,900 cusecs.