SIALKOT, Aug 4: Six youths, two of them who went bathing in a playful mood, were swept away by flash floods caused in almost all parts of Sialkot and Narowal.

Four youths, including Asghar, Latif and Muhammad Ali, were drowned in gushing water which damaged an embankment of Nullah Dek at Jhaatokey village, Pasrur tehsil. So far, only one body could be recovered near the Ban Bajwa village.

While two boys drowned while bathing in Nullah Jhajri near Maloke village.

Adnan, 13, and Saddam Husain, 14, were bathing in the rainy river when suddenly Saddam drifted into the deep waters and raised hue and cry. Adnan tried to save him, but swept away by gushing water.

Prolonged heavy rains have caused water to overflow from Nullah Aik, Bhed and Nullah Palkhu, inundating almost all the localities in Sialkot, including Lorry Adda, district jail and the railway station.

As many as 100 villages inundated in Pasrur, Shakargarh and Narowal tehsils and Gujranwala as a result of high spate in Nullahs Dek, Baeen, Jussari, Deg and Kot. Standing paddy and other seasonal crops spreading over 13,000 acres were damaged.

The district government has urged the Punjab government to declare cities, towns and villages affected by continuous rains of three days as calamity-hit areas.

The district Nazim, in the meanwhile, has claimed that army was called out to assist the civil administration to shift the stranded people to safer places by motor boats.

As of now, the Met office recorded 220mm of rain in Sialkot city, submerging all the streets and roads in the low-lying areas under four to five feet flood water.

According to sources, hundreds of people had taken shelter at the rooftops of their houses. Chenab, Tavi and Jammu are also in high flood caused by excessive rains.

The Nullah Aik overflowed from its banks near Naikapura, Sialkot city, while Nullah Bhed from near the Cantonment area and Bhed Pulli, inundating all shops, houses and some buildings of auto workshops.

The railway track between Sialkot-Pasrur-Narowal and Narowal-Baddomalhi-Lahore sections was also inundated, disrupting the traffic. The communication system and power supply also remained disrupted.

Nazim Mian Naeem Javed and the Sialkot DCO have declared an emergency and put all the departments concerned on red alert. However, the district government claimed that the situation was under control.

The Met office forecast more heavy rains in both Sialkot and Narowal districts and in all the catchment areas of the neighbouring Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in the next 24 hours.

The affected people alleged that the situation aggravated because the local administration did not desilt the nullahs for long. They said the district government did not learn the lesson from the similar situation of floods in 1997.

According to an official handout issued here on Monday evening by the district government, Pasrur tehsil was the worst-hit area. The Nullah Dek and Nullah Jussari inundated dozens of villages and badly damaged standing paddy and seasonal crops on the thousands of the acres.

The Nazim also said special teams of the revenue department had been formed to assess the losses and damages to the property in the flood hit-areas. He said around 17 sectors and 34 sub-sectors started relief operation in the flood-affected areas.

The DCO said that “inlets” of Marala-Ravi-Link Canal near Taqipur, Baqapur and Ban Bajwa were opened for the early discharge of the flood water in the MR Link Canal. He hoped that the situation would improve in the next 24 hours.

The District Nazim, the DCO and other officials on Monday visited several flood-affected areas to review the relief arrangements.

The sources said the Sialkot-Daska Road, Sialkot-Uggoki-Wazirabad Road, Shahzad-Seehowal Road, Saidpur-Sialkot Road and the Pasrur-Badiana Road were closed for the light traffic.