The Motorway Police have issued a statement regarding damage near Jalalpur Peerwala that has disrupted travel on the M-5.
A massive new section of the Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M5) was completely washed away near Jalalpur Pirwala.
“This is the second major breach to cripple the M5,” confirmed an Irrigation Department spokesperson. “The new breach is actively widening. Our emergency teams are working around the clock, placing boulders in a desperate attempt to stabilise the ground.”
The scale of the disaster is vast. The Sutlej River has effectively created a 20 to 25km-long inland lake between Gilani Road and the M5 motorway, submerging and damaging the highway along its entire length in the area.
A district administration official has revealed that the scale of the damage might have been mitigated by a difficult decision. “It would have been better to make a controlled breach on the motorway to pass the Sutlej River water into the Chenab, but the decision was not taken in time,” the official stated.
Due to medium level flood in the Sutlej River, thousands of people were being evacuated from Multan, Lodhran and Bahawalpur districts.
Water continued to change its way from the Norja Bhutta breach to inundate the villages between Gilani Road and the M5 motorway.
