PESHAWAR/MOHMAND/LAHORE: Rescue personnel evacuated several people as rain caused flooding in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial capital, Peshawar, on Tuesday while an operation was also carried out in the province’s Mohmand district to rescue a group of people stranded in floodwater. Meanwhile, heavy showers also lashed parts of Punjab.
The continuing spell of rain over the past few days has claimed several lives in KP and Punjab, as well as, Balochistan.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmed Faizi told Dawn that at least 65 people were evacuated from Peshawar’s Sardar Colony on Tuesday due to flooding in Budhni nullah during a heavy downpour in the afternoon.
He said that water level in the nullah has increased, with water entering Sardar Colony.
A flood alert on the Irrigation Department’s X account at around 3:30pm said that discharge in Budhni nullah had increased up to 13,035 cusecs and that it was in high flood.
In the evening, Rescue 1122 said in a statement that District Emergency Officer Iftikhar Khan was overseeing de-watering operations that were under way since last night in Peshawar’s Shaheen Housing Society, Warsak Road, Budhni Bridge, Sardar Colony, Board Bazaar, Bara Bridge and other areas.
It said rainwater had entered houses and neighbourhoods in the city’s Sardar Garhi area, from where rescue personnel had evacuated over 70 people.
The Rescue 1122 spokesperson in Mohmand, Abdullah Mohmand, told Dawn that a group of people stranded in flash floodwaters in the Yousaf Khel Wacha Jora area of Haleemzai tehsil were rescued on Tuesday.
He said a sudden surge in floodwater level had left them stranded along with a vehicle. All of them were later rescued and taken to a safe location along with the vehicle, he added.
KP CM directs authorities to take precautionary measures
For his part, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi directed relevant authorities to take precautionary measures in view of heavy rains across the province, a statement issued by his office said.
The statement quoted him as saying that all relevant departments were on high alert and ensuring that precautionary measures were taken. He also said that the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Rescue 1122 and district administrations were immediately responding to complaints and prepared to carry out relief activities.
“The district administration is continuously monitoring vulnerable and low-lying areas. The protection of human lives is the top priority and no negligence will be tolerated in this regard,” he was further quoted as saying.
The CM appealed to citizens to take precautionary measures and asked them to immediately inform the district administration about any untoward incident.
“The government is continuously monitoring the situation and taking all possible steps,” the CM said.
According to the Met Office, Parachinar, Cherat, Dera Ismail Khan, Dir, Drosh, Bannu and Saidu Sharif also received rain.
Rain lashes parts of Punjab
Meanwhile, the PDMA in Punjab said several areas of the province received rain on Monday and Tuesday, including Faisalabad, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bhakkar, Murree, Minawali, Kot Addu, Attock, Rahim Yar Khan, Rawalpindi, and Multan.
As Lahore witnessed rain from morning through evening, the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) was on high alert on the directives of Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz, a statement by Wasa said.
The statement said the Wasa vice chairperson, director general and managing director directed that all main arteries and underpasses should be kept cleared for traffic, field teams should remain active, pumps at disposal stations should be operational, and town directors should monitor the situation in the respective towns.
