ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s disaster management authority on Sunday warned that the country’s Ravi River, a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, was at the risk of experiencing “low floods” after India released about 185,000 cusecs of water from its Ujh Barrage.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty, which was brokered by the World Bank and signed between Pakistan and India in 1960, India has control over the waters of the three eastern rivers – the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej – while Pakistan controls the waters of the three western rivers — the Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum.
“India has released approximately 185,000 cusecs of water from the Ujh Barrage [into] River Ravi,” the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) wrote on Twitter, citing the Pakistani Indus waters commissioner.
“As per flood limits of River Ravi at Jassar, LOW FLOOD in the flood plain areas is expected.”
Last year, the NDMA said, India had released 173,000 cusecs of water into the river, out of which 60,000 cusecs, which was approximately one-third of the released water, had flown to the Jassar town in the Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province, causing low-level floods.
“Therefore, as per the PCIW, considering the previous record, approx 65,000 cusecs are expected to reach [Jassar] within the next 20-24 hours,” it said.
“The public is advised to stay informed and follow guidelines from relevant administrations.”
The authority said it had issued safety guidelines to deal with the possibility of floods, adding that local administration in vulnerable areas would be vigilantly monitoring the situation till July 20.
Relief agencies, backed by local administration of multiple districts, have set up camps along the river banks and canals to transport residents to safety in case of floods.
The flood warning comes at a time when Pakistan has been witnessing monsoon rains that have killed more than 50 people over the last two weeks.
The rains have returned to Pakistan a year after the climate-induced downpour swelled rivers and inundated at one point one-third of Pakistan, killing 1,739 people. The floods also caused $30 billion in damage in cash-strapped Pakistan in 2022.
Pakistan issues flood warning after India releases 185,000 cusecs of water into Ravi River
https://arab.news/29un7
Pakistan issues flood warning after India releases 185,000 cusecs of water into Ravi River
- Pakistan’s disaster management body says water may reach Punjab’s Jassar town within next 24 hours
- Relief agencies, local administrations set up relief camps to transport people to safety in case of floods
Pakistan bans ex-army officer, YouTuber Adil Raja under Anti-Terrorism Act
- Pakistan interior ministry says Raja misused online platforms to promote, facilitate anti-state narratives
- Raja, a UK-based YouTuber-commentator, is a harsh critic of Pakistan’s government, powerful military
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal government has listed a former army officer and pro-Imran Khan YouTuber-commentator Adil Raja as a proscribed person in the Anti-Terrorism Act for pushing anti-state narratives, the interior ministry said this week.
Raja, who is now a UK-based blogger who broadcasts political commentary on Pakistan, is severely critical of the government and the military in his YouTube vlogs. Critics also accuse him of being biased in favor of former prime minister Imran Khan.
Pakistani officials have accused Raja of running propaganda campaigns from abroad in the past. Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met British High Commissioner Jane Marriott in Islamabad this month and formally handed over extradition documents for Raja. The UK government has so far not commented on the development.
In a notification issued on Saturday, the interior ministry said the government believes Raja has been demonstrating involvement in activities “posing a serious threat to the security, integrity and public order of Pakistan.”
“He has consistently misused online platforms to promote, facilitate and amplify anti-state narratives and propaganda associated with proscribed terrorist organizations, thereby acting in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty and defense of Pakistan,” a notification by the interior ministry said.
“Now, therefore in exercise of the powers conferred by section 11EE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the Federal Government is pleased to direct to list Mr. Adil Farooq Raja, s/o Umer Farooq Raja, in the Fourth Schedule to the said Act as a proscribed person for the purposes of the said Act.”
Section 11EE empowers the government to list a person under the Fourth Schedule if there are reasonable grounds to believe that he/she is involved in “terrorism” or is an activist, office bearer or an associate of an organization kept under observation under the same Act, or is suspected to be concerned with any organization suspected to be involved in “terrorism.”
Those placed on the Fourth Schedule by the government are subjected to intense scrutiny and movement restrictions.
In a post on social media platform X, Raja denied any wrongdoing, saying the government had banned him after failing to extradite him from the UK.
“This designation is not a consequence of any crime, but a direct reprisal for my practice of journalism,” he wrote.
Raja was also among two retired army officers who were convicted and sentenced under the Army Act, and for violations of the provisions of the Official Secrets Act in 2023.
The former army officer was given 14 years of rigorous imprisonment by a military court.
Khan, a former cricket star who served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been in jail since August 2023 on multiple charges his party says are politically motivated.
Despite incarceration, he remains the country’s most popular opposition figure, commanding one of the largest digital followings in South Asia.
Overseas Pakistanis in particular drive sustained online activism on platforms such as YouTube and X, campaigning for his release and alleging human-rights abuses against Khan and his supporters, claims the Pakistani state rejects.
