KHAIRPUR: The Indus water did not hit any of the embankments in katcha areas of four talukas of Khairpur district — Khairpur, Kingri, Gambat and Sobhodero — till late on Thursday night.

APP quoted the Flood Forecasting Division as saying that Indus River was moving ahead with low flood at Guddu barrage, where the inflow was 309,373 cusecs and outflow 283,500 cusecs. The flow in the river at Sukkur was recorded at 190,000 cusecs.

The FFD said the flood torrent would continue to pass Guddu and Sukkur barrages for three days and would flow into the sea after a week.

Dozens of villages in Ghotki and Pano Aqil are reported to have been submerged and cut off from other areas. Floodwaters also entered a number of settlements around the river in Kashmoor and Naushahro Feroze.

Chenab River has started receding, but it is still in high tide at Panjnad (318,000 cusecs). A large area of southern Punjab stretching from Muzaffargarh to Rahimyar Khan and including Rajanpur, Khangarh, Shujabad, Sultan city, Thatta Sial, Muradabad and Bhattapur is still under water.

According to the Federal Flood Commission, Jhelum, Ravi and Sutlej rivers are flowing normally.

The FFD forecast mainly dry weather over most parts of the country over the next 24 hours. However, isolated thundershowers may occur over Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan and Kashmir and upper catchments of Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej.

BILAWAL IN SUKKUR: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited Sukkur on Thursday and reviewed the flood situation in Sindh.

He was accompanied by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, provincial ministers, MPAs and senior leaders of the PPP.

Bilawal also went to the Sukkur barrage, where he was briefed by Sindh Irrigation Secretary Babar Ali Effendi with the help of maps, charts and photographs on the current flood situation and precautionary measures taken by the provincial government.

He said there was no threat to the province because the flood pick coming from Punjab had ebbed away. Only spillovers may cause damage in areas around embankments.

The secretary said that at present the flow of water at the Guddu barrage was 352,000 cusecs and expected rise to a maximum of 450,000 cusecs. “We have taken precautionary measures for handling more than 800,000 cusecs. Machinery and manpower are available at every sensitive point and the level of all embankments of the Indus River has been raised to withstand the pressure,” he added.

The chief minister informed Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari that embankments were being monitored day and night and he was personally supervising relief work. He said tents and other essential items had been made available at several points in the affected areas.

The PPP chairman took a round of the barrage and inspected the volume of water. The irrigation secretary informed him that the Sukkur barrage and its canals had sustained over 1.2 million cusecs (super flood) in 2010.

Earlier, Mr Bilawal met leaders and workers of PPP and asked them to be prepared to fight the flood and carry out rescue and relief operations.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2014