Pakistan raised the alert level for floods in the east of the country on Tuesday, where more than 128,000 people have already been evacuated from their homes after the rise in water levels in the Sutlej river.
This increase, caused by water spills in neighboring India, is the highest in 35 years.
The intense flow of the Sutlej river advances downstream, after causing serious damage in the city of Bahawalpur and its surroundings, in the Pakistani province of Punjab, the area most affected by the overflow of water in recent weeks, the fair reported on Tuesday. Pakistani. Dawn Newspaper.
More than 128,000 people and more than 50,000 animals were evacuated from vulnerable villages and settlements before the floodwaters entered these areas, Bahawalpur Deputy Commissioner Zaheer Anwar said.
The waters are now heading towards southern Punjab, with high and declining average flow putting at least six districts at risk of flooding, according to the latest report issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
Flooding of the Sutlej River, which originates in Tibet and flows through India before joining the Indus River, has completely isolated cities and areas of Pakistan, submerging hundreds of hectares of farmland.
Rains and floods cause numerous human and material losses every year in South Asian countries, especially during the monsoon period between June and September.
Pakistan – one of the countries most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change – suffered last year the worst floods since 2010, which caused the death of 1,700 people and one million animals, in addition to causing eight million internal displacements.
These storms indirectly affected at least 33 million people.
Source: TSF
