KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Thursday his government is “well prepared” to tackle the looming threat of downstream floods from Punjab, saying officials were monitoring the River Indus and its embankments while climate activists and residents expressed fear.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has warned that rising water levels in Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers were carrying exceptionally high flows and were likely to course downstream into Sindh. The NDMA urged the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh on Wednesday to evacuate people near the Indus River’s embankments and in riverine areas of the province.
Torrential rains and excess water released by India have caused devastating floods in Punjab, where 17 people have been killed this week and over 1,600 villages have been submerged with water. Pakistan’s Meteorological Department has warned that Sindh is likely to receive heavy downpours on Aug. 30 and 31 in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad and Dadu districts.
“The government is well prepared to face the situation we are anticipating,” Shah told Arab News.
He added that the provincial irrigation department is closely monitoring River Indus and its embankments at the Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri barrages.
