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Torrential rains wreak havoc in Punjab

Posted on: Fri July 30, 2010

CHAKWAL: Torrential rain played havoc across the district on Thursday .  Low-lying areas were flooded while crops were damaged .  Ponds and other reservoirs were filled with rainwater .  The water shortage mostly in the villages due to the previous dry spell ended .  Mulhal Mughlan Main Bazaar was flooded due to the heavy rain after water entered the shops and houses .  

In Choa Saidan Shah, the old drain overflowed and submerged the Chakwal-Choa Saidan Shah Road .  Several houses collapsed in Kallar Kahar Tehsil after rainwater flooded Kharli village, Chak Misri and Sardhi .  All business centres gave a deserted look as rain continued from 10am to 6pm .  In Chakwal city, Talagang Road, Jhelum Road, Mohallah Sargojra and Millat Chowk were affected by the heavy rain .  Attendance in government offices also remained thin .  

Our Sargodha correspondent adds: Two people were injured when the roof of a collapse due to heavy rains .  

Rashid and Majid were present in their house at Haiderabad Town when its roof collapsed .  As a result, they were injured seriously .  They were shifted to a hospital .  Meanwhile, low-lying areas were inundated due to heavy rains which continued for the last 48 hours .  Rainwater also entered the houses at Chak 43/NB, Chak 46/NB and Chak 47/NB, besides damaging crops in these villages .  The TMA and the Cantonment Board failed to pump out rainwater from the low-lying areas .  

Our Jauharabad correspondent adds: Several villages in Khushab district were inundated due to rains continuing for the last 72 hours .  

Various houses, schools and other official buildings collapsed across the district, particularly in the Mohar area, while crops over hundreds of acres were also badly damaged .  Several localities in Khushab Town, the biggest one in the district, were also inundated by rainwater .  Under instructions from the DCO, relief teams had been sent to the affected areas .  A flood control room has been established to deal with any emergency situation .  

Our Pakpattan correspondent adds: Weather turned pleasant after a light rain here and adjoining areas .  Rainwater accumulated in Mohallah Samadhanwala, Mohallah Taliwala, Mohallah Hussanpura and Mohallah Eidgah due to choked gutters .  

Our Dera Ghazi Khan correspondent adds: The recent flash flood has damaged over 15,000 houses and 113,807 acres in Rajanpur, said Commissioner Hassan Iqbal here on Thursday .  

The commissioner said that the flood affected 132 villages while relief goods worth Rs 2 million had been distributed among the affectees .  He said the relief items included 50 tents and as many health kits, sheets and oil stoves .  

The commissioner said that as many as 1,464 packets of dry ration had been provided to the victims during three days in addition to 9,249 bags of wheat flour .  The commissioner claimed that relief centres had been established in Rajanpur s areas, including Bridge Pathanwali, Bridge Qutab, Hajipur Road, Bridge Dhundi Chak Shaheed, Bridge Dhundi Hajipur and Fazalpur Road .  He added that relief centres had been set up in Jampur s Muhammadpur, Hajipur and Dajal areas .

Owing to torrential rain across the country, particularly in the catchment areas of the River Indus, a high flood is expected to pass from the Taunsa Barrage during the next 36 hours .  

The expected flood may devastate a vast area in the riverine belt on both banks of the river .  The administrations of the four districts have not so far taken appropriate steps to shift the masses to safer places .  A large population in Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh and Layyah is already badly hit by flood in the River Indus, which paralysed life .  The slow-paced relief operation coupled with the shortage of relief goods could not become effective for the flood-hit population .  

The people, settled across the left and right banks of the river, say that they with their cattle cannot shift within the shortest time due to water standing everywhere and heavy mud in some areas .  

Courtesy : The News