LAHORE/MUZAFFARGARH: Floods have wreaked havoc on south and central Punjab as they left thousands of people displaced and destroyed crops over thousands of acres in the districts of Layyah, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Muzaffargarh, Vehari and Bahawalpur.

In Layyah district only, 62 villages were affected and 17,000 acres of land was flooded by the river Indus.

According to a recent report by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), there was a medium-level flood in various districts of Punjab where hundreds of people were displaced from their homes.

Among the hardest-hit districts, Okara witnessed displacement of 69,868 people, followed by Kasur with 47,058, Vehari with 1,349, Nankana with 1,013 and Layyah with 214 people.

As the level of water in the rivers of Sutlej, Chenab, Ravi and Indus continue to surge, crops over approximately 75,609 acres have been submerged by floodwater in various districts, leading to massive agricultural losses. The floods have also caused severe damage to houses, rendering hundreds of families homeless and in dire need of assistance.

62 villages affected in Layyah; 69,868 people displaced in Okara, 47,058 in Kasur

In Layyah where 62 villages have reportedly been affected, roads are flooded and travel is almost impossible between Karor and Kot Sultan areas while the water level is rising in the river Indus, according to Deputy Commissioner Khalid Pervez.

Water has submerged human settlements while hundreds of people are still trapped in their houses surrounded in the 72km low-lying belt from Karor to Kot Sultan. Skin diseases and eye infections are spreading rapidly due to the floodwater while there are inadequate arrangements and lack of medicines at the flood relief camps set up by the Layyah administration. Medical teams are finding it hard to reach the affected people staying along the river.

The DC visited Bat Mongar, a low-lying area of Karor and inspected the affected areas and river erosion. He directed the officials to complete the arrangements to shift the people to the flood relief camps. He said 20 relief camps were established and 17 rescue teams were working in the flood-hit areas.

The DC Layyah said the water level was still rising and the administration had completed arrangements to meet the shortage of medicines and vaccines. However, the evacuated families expressed concerns about the animals they left behind at their homes and they were anxious to go back soon.

The floods have not spared livestock either and the PDMA report mentions rescue of thousands of cattle from affected areas. In Kasur, a whopping 2,412 animals were rescued, 1,758 were rescued in Muzaffargarh, 885 in Nankana, 305 in Vehari, 270 in Khanewal and 132 in Okara. The loss of livestock compounded the hardships faced by the affected communities.

Five villages in tehsil Alipur of district Muzaffargarh have been inundated, forcing hundreds of people to leave their homes. The residents of village Kundrala launched a protest against the district administration for alleged negligence in setting up relief camps and providing transportation for people and cattle to safe locations.

The PDMA claims to have established relief camps in the affected areas, providing temporary shelter and essential supplies to the displaced residents. Twenty-one such camps are functional in Muzaffargarh, 20 in Layyah, 19 in Okara, 18 in Jhang, 15 each in Multan and Gujranwala, seven in Bhakkar, six each in Hafizabad and Sialkot, five in Vehari and four each Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin.

In Bahawalpur district, the floodwater from river Sutlej submerged vast areas at Lal Sohanra, Magwani Pattan and Fatehpur Pattan.

The floodwater affected a large number of the residents of the settlements in these areas where crops of cotton and maize were damaged.

Deputy Commissioner Zaheer Anwar Jappa visited the flood-hit areas. He was informed that the rescue teams shifted the affected civil population along with their herds to safer places.

(Our Bahawalpur correspondent also contributed to the report.)

Published in Dawn, Aug 1st, 2023