WEBDESK: Floods in the Sutlej River have badly damaged the road network in Pakpattan district, leaving thousands of villagers cut off.
Around 20 main link roads and many smaller routes, covering more than 50 kilometres, are either submerged or destroyed. These roads connected over 60 villages, where nearly 40,000 daily commuters are now stranded.
Officials said that about 100,000 people have left their homes for safer places. More than 100,000 acres of farmland and 76 villages are affected, while 5,000 cattle have been recovered from floodwater.
Shahzad Hashim, Executive Engineer (EXEN) of the Highway Department, said that embankments along several key routes have been washed away. Roads from Noora Rath Bund to Abadi Haji Mahmood Rath, Kund Qabil, and other villages are destroyed. Many areas still have deep water, making travel impossible.
The district education authority has closed 30 government schools in Arifwala and Pakpattan tehsils. The closure, first announced for one week, has now been extended because of the high flood.
The main Pakpattan-Minchinabad road via Baba Farid Bridge is still open. However, most rural routes remain blocked. Water levels have fallen from 10–12 feet to 4–5 feet in some places, but breaches as deep as 6–7 feet remain.
Warning camps have been set up by the Communication and Works Department to alert villagers about dangerous road sections. Officials say repair work can only start once the water level goes down completely.
According to the Federal Flood Commission, water discharge in the Sutlej is still at extreme levels — over 311,000 cusecs at Head Ganda Singhwala and 150,000 cusecs at Head Sulemanki.
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