SAHIWAL: Heavy flooding from the Ravi River has caused extensive damage to Sahiwal’s road infrastructure, cutting off connections to several districts and communities.

Three main roads linking Sahiwal with Toba Tek Singh, Kamalia, Faisalabad, Gojra, Arifwala, Burewala, Vehari, Khanewal and Pakpattan have been completely washed away at multiple points with breaches exceeding 200 feet.

Additionally, six smaller roads in villages are now impassable. They include the road from Murad Kay Katiya to Chak 18B/7-R, Kachi Pakki to Jhangi Sial, Kachi Pakki to Mauza Siyal, Chandini Chowk to Chichawatni, Purani Chichawatni to Chak 119/7 D-R and Kachi Paki to Chak 104/7-R.

The damage isn’t just to the road surface, approximately 100 culverts (known as pulli) have been destroyed and floodwater has eroded the ground beneath the roads in some areas.

This has halted all light and heavy traffic among the five affected districts for the past three days and dozens of villages in the area got disconnected. As a result, thousands of commuters and commercial vehicles are stranded, leading to a shortage of produce in the local vegetable market as supplies from Faisalabad and Toba Tek Singh can’t get through to Chichawatni.

Cattle traders are also struggling to bring livestock to the Chichawatni market, which is now serving as a shelter for flood-affected animals. Despite a recent drop in the Ravi’s water level to 123,000 cusecs, the Flood Forecasting Division, Lahore, has warned of a new surge of 150,000 cusecs expected to reach Sahiwal tonight due to heavy rains in upstream districts of Punjab.

The local administration is on high alert. Muhammad Ramzan, executive engineer (EXEN) of the highway department, explained that repairs to the inter-village roads can’t begin until the floodwater recedes.

“In case tonight more water comes, the situation will get worse as the water has already submerged 80pc of roads.”

He said the C&W department is trying to install a steel bridge to reconnect a 200 foot breach on the main Chichawatni-Kamalia road, hoping to restore limited traffic within 48 hours if the new flood surge doesn’t cause more damage. However, residents fear that the incoming water would overwhelm the temporary structure. The department is still assessing the full extent of the damage to both major and minor road networks.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2025