KARACHI: CM Murad Ali Shah has said that Sindh government’s top priority is to save lives and the next is to protect the bunds.
Addressing media outside Mazar-i-Quaid in Karachi, The chief minister expressed his sympathies for the families of those who lost their lives in the recent floods.
“The deluge that started from India, and caused destruction there, then has reached Sindh after covering the entire Pakistan … we will [face it] with the help of our people,” he said.
Calling for unity, the chief minister noted that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had called for immediate relief by imposing an agricultural emergency.
CM Murad said that “Yesterday, the federal cabinet imposed a climate and agricultural emergency. I am waiting … and we also have some recommendations that we will present”.
“I think the solution to this lies not just with the centre or with the provinces alone. We will need a collective solution to the threat posed by climate change,” he emphasised.
The chief minister highlighted the heightening and strengthening of bunds after the previous floods of 2014.
“Sukkur Barrage is an engineering marvel […] the world’s engineers designed that barrage in 1932 but three years later, they had to close 10 gates,” he noted, adding that the government will carry out studies of the structure to increase its capacity.
On the other hand, flooding caused severe damage in seven villages of Pakpattan, forcing thousands of people to evacuate.
Rescue teams continued boat operations for a second day, moving around 3,500 people and 250 animals to safer areas. Floodwater also destroyed rice and maize crops spread across hundreds of acres.
Indus River water levels surge at Punjnad Barrage
Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, on the orders of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, rushed to Alipur in Muzaffargarh as water levels surged in the Indus River at Punjnad Headworks. The inflow and outflow at the barrage rose to 668,195 cusecs.
Officials said the flood stream that struck central Punjab has now moved towards south Punjab and is heading into Sindh.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) reported that the monsoon season has weakened, and no major rise in Punjab’s rivers is expected. According to the PDMA Director General, rains in the upper catchment areas have ended, and Punjab’s tenth spell of monsoon rains has concluded.
The PDMA also said that heavy rainfall is not expected in the coming week, though high to very high flood levels remain in several rivers.
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