Islamabad: Pakistan military was on Friday called to support the rescue operation after monsoon rain, flash floods and rain related accidents killed about 70 people, mostly in Punjab, in the last two days.
The downpour, being termed as one of the heaviest, started on Wednesday and is still continuing in parts of Punjab and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Army has been deployed to help in evacuation of people who are caught in torrential rains by flash floods, Military spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bjawa said in a statement.
“Army troops have been moved for flood relief duties in Sialkot, Narowal, Head Marala, Wazirabad and Jalalpur Jattan. Troops will remain standby at Shahdara, Lahore,” Bjawa said. Rescue official said that all the deaths occurred in Punjab and PoK, the worst affected areas by rain. The deaths were caused by collapsing of roofs, electrocution and drowning.
Muhammad Hanif, an official from Metrological Department said that some cities received heaviest rain in 30 years. A number of cities received over 130mm of rain.
The system is likely to persist for another 48 hours. About 16 people, including three women, were killed in Lahore as rain levelled houses in different areas of the city.
Five people were killed in Faisalabad, six in Gujranwala, five in Sialkot, four in Kasur, three in Khanewal, two in Okara and one in Sheikhupura when roofs of their houses collapsed.
The deaths in Kasur were caused by electrocution. In PoK, three soldiers and seven civilians were killed in landslides and flash floods which ravaged the mountainous region. Several vehicles were washed away in the torrent. Rain in Lahore started on Wednesday afternoon and continued uninterrupted till yesterday. It inundated the entire city. A peak of 467,000 cusecs passed through the Head Marala on the Chenab river in the night.
The water level in the river is expected to rise further over the next 24 hours, threatening low-lying areas of Sialkot and Gujranwala regions, they said.
There are also chances of spillovers or breaches at vulnerable places and high to very high flood in nullahs of the Ravi and Chenab rivers in the Sialkot region, they said. (PTI)
