KARACHI: Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon on Saturday said the provincial government was “fully mobilized” to deal with the impact of floods in southern Pakistan, where nearly 1.6 million people and over 1,600 villages are at risk.
The deluge, fueled by record monsoon rains and excess water released from upstream India, has created crisis conditions in the country’s most populous Punjab province since Monday, where the trans-boundary Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers have submerged about 2,300 villages and killed at least 30 people.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) cautioned a day earlier that rising river waters were likely to cause extreme flooding in downstream Sindh, with flood waves of 900,000 to 1.2 million cusecs expected to flow through barrages in Punjab and Sindh in the coming days.
Addressing a news conference in Karachi, Memon said floodwaters were expected to enter the province “on the night of September 2 or 3.”
“A provincial Rain and Flood Emergency Monitoring Cell has been set up to monitor the flood situation, which will remain operational round the clock,” he said.
“At present, 192 rescue boats and mobile health units have been deployed,” he continued. “As many as 1.65 million people, 1,651 villages and 167 union councils could potentially be affected, with an estimated 273,000 families at risk.”
The provincial minister said residents of vulnerable areas were being shifted to safer locations, highlighting that most people have voluntarily evacuated from the riverine areas.
“Three hundred camps have also been set up for livestock,” he added. “Continuous monitoring of water levels is underway.”
Memon noted there was no shortage of funds for flood relief activities, adding that the Punjab government was also providing kits in this regard.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah convened an emergency meeting on Friday after flood forecasts, instructing all relevant departments to stay vigilant.
“In case of a major flood wave, not a single life, human or animal, should be lost,” he told officials, directing the Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to deploy rescue boats, establish over 500 relief camps, and coordinate with the Pakistan Navy, which has 26 boats on standby.
Around 830 people have been killed and 1,121 injured during the monsoon season since June 26, according to official statistics.
Pakistani officials have warned the flood threat could intensify in the coming days, with the current spell expected to last until at least Sept. 10 and potentially rival the 2022 floods, which killed more than 1,700 people and caused over $30 billion in damage.
