ISLAMABAD: India has warned Pakistan of fresh cross-border flooding in Sutlej as rains in upper parts of Pakistan continue to swell rivers in the eastern Punjab province, the Pakistani water resources ministry said on Friday, amid an already high flood situation at Trimmu and Panjnad headworks in the province.
Pakistan’s Punjab has been facing an emergency as monsoon floods have killed 46 people, displaced 1.8 million and inundated 1.3 million acres of agricultural land in the country’s breadbasket province over the last two weeks, official data shows. Another 3.9 million people have been affected.
The Indian high commission in Islamabad conveyed the warning to Pakistan through the ministry of water resources, which mentioned of the release of excess water in the Sutlej river from Harike and Ferozepur headworks in India, rather than the water-sharing Indus Waters Treaty, which India has said remains suspended.
The development comes as Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej continue to have a flood situation, particularly at the Trimmu and Panjnad headworks in Punjab’s Jhang and Bahawalpur districts, following fresh rains in upper parts of the country, according to the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).
