MUZAFFARGARH: Fifty-two villages and crops of sugarcane and cotton on thousands of acres of land have so far been damaged by the flood in the Chenab river.

On Tuesday (today), there will be high flood in the Muzaffargarh district. On the other side in Kot Addu, the water in the Indus river is rising, creating panic at the Head Taunsa Barrage.

The irrigation department has closed the Muzaffargarh canal and TP Link canal since Saturday evening when the medium flood with 300,000 cusecs of water started passing from the Head Taunsa Barrage.

Kot Addu Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Amir thinks that the floodwater will rise more in the coming four days and 20 more villages downstream had been evacuated by administration because of the dangerous situation and heavy erosion along the river Indus.

Floodwater level expected to keep rising in next four days

An irrigation official says three spur bunds on the river are in dangerous condition while the department is busy ensuring the protective measures.

Deputy Commissioner Ali Annan Qamar visited the dangerous spots. He says the district administration is trying to control the alarming situation but three to four days will be required to control the breaches.

The irrigation officials have issued the letters to the contractors to complete work on the breaches on the river Chenab. Schools have been closed in the flood-affected areas.

An official says that from Rangpur to Muzaffargarh, 52 villages have been affected badly by the Chenab river and dozens of houses have been destroyed. The administration teams started assessing the losses after the Punjab government announced compensation for flood-affected people.

The union council secretaries are making announcements in the villages to vacate the areas facing danger of flood on both sides of the Chenab; however, many families refused to evacuate their homes, saying that they would move to safer places if the situation worsened.

The affected families claim that the district administration is not taking care of them and there is nothing to eat at the flood relief camps.

The deputy commissioner says some areas have been declared unsafe because of erosion and the people living there have been asked to evacuate on an urgent basis. Crops of sugarcane and cotton on thousands acres have been damaged by the Chenab flood so far.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2022