Flooding in the Chenab, Sutlej, and Ravi rivers has devastated nearly 1,400 villages across Punjab, displacing more than 1.2 million people.
Along the Chenab, 991 villages and 769,281 people have been impacted, while Ravi’s river bank burst has affected 80 villages and 74,775 residents, and the Sutlej has inundated 361 villages, displacing 392,768 people.
Along with human evacuations, more than 148,000 livestock have been relocated to safer areas, with 234 animal treatment camps set up to provide medical support. More than 210,000 people have been moved to safer locations, including 25,000 accommodated in rescuse camps, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as of Thursday.
The Chenab and Jhelum rivers have risen to extremely high and very high flood levels respectively, inundating vulnerable districts, said Provincial Disaster Management Authority’s (PDMA) Lahore Flood Forecasting Division (FFD).
The Chenab River is experiencing extremely high flood levels at Head Khanki, Qadirabad and downstream Marala.
At Khanki, the river is in an extremely high flood situation with flows reaching 859,000 cusecs. Similarly, at Head Qadirabad, the discharge has surged to 996,000 cusecs—nearly 200,000 cusecs above its design capacity, also categorised as an extremely high flood level.
Understanding flood levels
According to FFD, flood levels are categorized in five stages:
- A “low flood level” is where river flows are just above normal and generally contained within the banks.
- A “medium flood” indicates a stronger rise in water, posing risks to low-lying villages and crops near riverbanks.
- When a “high flood” is declared, the situation becomes dangerous as water may overflow or put severe pressure on embankments.
- Whereas, a “very high flood signals” a critical stage where large-scale inundation is expected.
- The most severe category is an extremely high flood, where river discharges exceed the safe design limits of barrages and embankments.
Chenab River
Due to the Chenab River swelling, more than 50 villages in Sambrial have been submerged, while the death toll from drowning has risen to at least eight. The extremely high flood wave in the river is expected to reach Muzaffargarh by Friday. Residents are increasingly worried due to the poor condition of protective embankments, with cracks reported at Rangpur, Muradabad, Bhattianwali Basti, Thatta Sialan, and Sankhi.
Ravi River
Moroever, water flow in the Ravi River continues to rise, reaching 189,000 cusecs at Shahdara and is expected to hit 200,000 cusecs in the coming hours. Floodwaters have risen above the riverbanks, spilling into nearby settlements around Shahdara. Mosques in the area have been announcing evacuation calls as water levels rise. The district administration has cleared 22 villages across five tehsils of Lahore.
