The sources said that peak of the flood caused by the unexpected release of over 550,000 cusecs water by India would pass through Qadirabad Barrage in district Hafizabad with upstream and downstream discharges of 380,000 and 370,000 cusecs respectively.
Irrigation engineers told this scribe that the floodwater would reach Panjnad near the border of Punjab and Sindh on July 17, where Rivers Chenab, Jhelum and Sutlej merge into the mighty Indus.
According to daily water situation report of Indus River System Authority, (Irsa), except for Chenab the other rivers are flowing normally or in low floods.
The report said that River Indus was in low flood at Kalabagh with a discharge of 270,000 cusecs, in medium flood at Taunsa with inflow and outflow of 463,000 cusecs, in medium flood at Guddu Barrage with upstream discharge of 444,000 cusecs, in low flood at Sukkur Barrage with upstream discharge of 258,000 cusecs and water level at Kotri Barrage was rising in the afternoon.
The river Kabul which played havoc in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera districts this week was falling with a discharge of 70,000 cusecs at Warsak and 106,000 cusecs at Nowshera at 6 pm on Friday. The total Rim Stations inflow was 656,608 cusecs, which is quite exceptional since the normal monsoon rains have yet to start in the upper regions of the country.
The Flood Relief Control Room told Business Recorder that so far 457 villages and 86,637 persons have been affected in the districts of Sialkot, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, D G Khan and Rajanpur. 4,133 houses and standing crops over 43,492 acres have been damaged.
The Federal Flood Relief Department on Friday dispatched 6 trucks of relief goods to the affected areas. The relief packets included flour, sugar, milk powder, pulses, tents and blankets.
A press release of National Institute of Health (NIH) said here on Friday that in addition to anti-snake venom serums it had provided adequate quantities of Typhoid and Cholera vaccines to the provincial health departments to meet the likely demand during the current floods and monsoon.
The NIH statement said that over the last few months, it had supplied 3,055 anti-snake venom serums to Punjab, 2,990 to Sindh, 688 to NWFP, and 998 to Balochistan. The provincial health departments have been advised to ensure that the serum is available at all major hospitals and in areas traditionally known for snakebites, the statement added.