Emergency declared in Pak’s Okara amid fears of flood

Okara [Pakistan], August 20 (ANI): Deputy Commissioner of Okara, Pakistan, Dr Muhammad Zeeshan Hanif declared an emergency and ordered public hospitals, rural health centres (RHCs), basic health units (BHUs) and dispensaries to remain open around the clock, while army personnel joined the Rescue 1122 to deal with any possible flood situation here, Pakisan-based daily Dawn reported.

All public officials’ leaves have been cancelled.

According to District Emergency Officer Zafar Iqbal, Rescue 1122 has 150 employees and 34 boats, and they have relocated 850 individuals in the last 24 hours, as reported by Dawn.

Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.

Medical camps had been set up at 11 locations, including Drazky, Mehloo Sheikhuka, Nama Jindeka, and Ratta, with livestock counters stocked with medicines.

Syed Shoaib Iqbal, DC, and Commissioner Syed Shoaib Iqbal paid visits to the Head Sulemanki and Attari base camps, where irrigation authorities briefed them on the water flow condition. On Saturday, more than 1,00,000 cusecs of water passed through the Sutlej River near Attari point. The Rescue 1122, a central control room landline 0449200287, was accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week to receive any calls for assistance.

The commissioner then went to the villages of Sojeky and Draz, where he was told that the people, together with their animals, had been evacuated from flood-prone areas.

Three dozen villages in Sahiwal have been evacuated, while warnings have been issued in Muzaffargarh and Bahawalpur.

The commissioner requested that the district administration hire lumberdars to reach out to the locals.

Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday said rescue efforts are underway after a flood “unprecedented in 35 years” was reported in the Sutlej River, according to Dawn.

As per the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD), the river is at an “extremely high flood level” at Ganda Singh Wala and will remain in this critical state.

It said River Sutlej at Sulemanki Headworks is anticipated to attain a “high to very high flood level” at the Sulemanki Headworks in the next 24 hours. Similarly, the Islam Headworks is expected to witness a high flood level from Aug 22 onwards.

Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) today, Naqvi said “278,000 cusecs of water” is rushing near the Ganda Singh border in Kasur and the government was closely monitoring the situation.

The chief minister added: “Visited flood-affected areas and relief camps today. Appreciation for district Administration, Rescue 1122, Police, and Irrigation teams for their 24/7 efforts over the past 3 days.”

“This flood is unprecedented in 35 years, but our teams are on the ground, dedicated to securing and helping our people. Insha Allah, we’ll get through this together,” he said.

Separately, in a media talk in Lahore later in the day, Naqvi said ten to 12 feet of floodwater had entered several villages in Kasur and 6,500 people had been evacuated from affected villages in the last 24 hours.

“We will, if we have to, forcefully evacuate people from the villages under threat to prevent any loss of life,” he stated, adding that Section 144 had been imposed in the area.

Naqvi further said that the Lahore commissioner and officials of the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) were overviewing the rescue operation at the site, Dawn reported.