JHANG: Flood torrent after having passed the Trimu Headworks is heading towards Shorkot tehsil.

The water level at Trimu dropped to 590,000 cusec after touching a peak of 626,000 cusec. It did not hit the dreaded figure of 750,000 or 800,000 cusec as almost the entire floodwater of river Jhelum was diverted towards the areas of Athara Hazari and Ahmadpur Sial tehsils through the breaches in the right marginal dyke of Trimu Headworks.

The flood peak of river Chenab is at the moment in an area where Shorkot tehsil lies on its left and the areas falling in the precincts of Athara Hazari and Ahmadpur Sial tehsils on its right (downstream the headworks). The floodwater on the left bank, after inundating the villages of Haveli Bahadar Shah, Ali Khanana, Bela Surbana, Mehram Sial, Qaim Bharwana, Allah Yar Joota and Merik Sial, was increasing its pressure west of Shorkot city, and the protective dyke near Budh Rajbana and Kharanwala, close to Shorkot city, was under tremendous pressure of the floodwater.

The authorities were making all possible efforts to strengthen this city defence line by beefing up the dyke and plugging the vulnerable points.

The big villages of Budh Rajbana, Kharanwala and Dub Kalan are bearing the burnt of the super flood. The inhabitants of these areas have already been shifted to safer places.

According to an eyewitness account the water was in full force on both banks of the under-construction Sultan Bahu Bridge, linking Garh Maharaja Town on the right bank with Shorkot on the left. There was no imminent threat to the bridge according to irrigation officials.

The floodwater was flowing on Jhang-Shorkot Road near Mehram Sial village; however, the traffic had not been suspended till the filing of this report at 7pm.

In the meantime, the right bank of river Chenab, downstream Trimu Headworks, was facing a two-pronged thrust of the floodwater as the water being released by the breaches in the Athara Hazari dyke was joined by the floodwater overflowing the right river bank, to cause maximum devastation in the vast areas of the two tehsils.

According to irrigation department sources the water coming out of the breach had reached as far as Kot Bahadar village on Jhang-Muzaffargarh Road and Dal Morr on Jhang-Bhakkar Road, while the water overflowing the river bank was hitting the villages in a radius of six to eight kilometres, starting from Rasheedpur to Garh Maharaja.

The affected villages in between are Jabbowana, Kot Murad, Kot Mapal, Mirnewala, Neko Kara, Sabqi and Riazabad.

The two sugar mills on Jhang-Muzaffargarh Road have been surrounded by the floodwater but the mills authorities are putting up a fight by erecting dykes around.

The flood water upstream Trimu Headworks has started receding in all areas of Jhang tehsil and same is the case with the villages and areas on both banks of river Jhelum, where too flood water level has dropped to a considerable extent.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2014