SIALKOT-During a video-link conference, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was briefed about the huge destruction caused by flood after the big breaches developed in the rivers and Nullahs passing through Sialkot, Narowal and Gujrat districts.
Shehbaz Sharif directed the Irrigation Department to ensure early repair of the breaches occurred in the Nullah Aik and Nullah Dek in Sialkot, Daska and Pasrur. The CM also directed paving and boosting of their banks and protective dykes to avert further flood disasters in Sialkot district.
Addressing a conference through video link, he made this direction to the Punjab Cabinet Committee on Flood and Sialkot district administration at Sialkot DCO office.
The conference remained continued for three consecutive hours during which the Sialkot district administration gave a detailed briefing about the persisting flood situation, recent flood disasters, damages and Sialkot district administration's flood preventive and flood-fighting measures.
Sialkot DCO Dr Asif Tufail said that the Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif also directed the Sialkot district administration to utilise all the available resources for draining out the floodwater from all urban and rural flood hit areas.
The CM asked the Irrigation Department secretary Capt (r) Saif Anjum to ensure early start of the repairing of the dyke breaches.
He also directed the officials of Health Department and Veterinary Health Department to ensure early establishment of the medical camps in the flood-hit areas. Giving the briefing about the fresh flood disasters in Sialkot, DCO Asif Tufail told the chief minister that both the Nullahs remained in very high flood during the night of July 27, 2016, saying that the flow of water was 38127 cusecs in Naullah Aik at Oora and 35102 cusecs in Nullah Dek at Dariya Nangal-Pasrur.
The DCO added that the high flood in Nullah Aik had caused nine big breaches into the banks and protective dykes of this Nullah Aik in near Sialkot city's congested Naikapura, Hajipura, Muhallah Araazi Yaqub, Shujaabad-Shafi Da Bhatta, Bahaar Colony and near village Nagor-Ghueinky (Daska tehsil) here. These breaches flooded most of the city areas of Sialkot and badly affected as many as 25,000 people in Sialkot city.
The DCO added that two breaches were occurred in flooded Nullah Dek at Chajjan and Khewa Bajwa spots n Pasrur tehsil, which inundated the standing seasonal crops on hundreds of acres of the land in surrounding 25 villages. He said that the special teams (under the supervision of the local assistant commissioners) were busy assessing the actual losses of life, cattle, crops and properties of the people due to this flood in Sialkot, Daska and Pasrur tehsils.
The DCO briefed about the prevailing flood situation in Rivers Chenab, Tavi and Jammu and the seasonal Nullahs Aik, Dek, Bhed, Baeen, Bassunter and Palkhu in Sialkot, Narowal and Gujrat districts.
He told that the district administration of Sialkot, Narowal and Gujrat districts were already monitoring the flood situation, besides, putting all the concerned department on high alert in this regard.
During the video conference, the Punjab chief minister also reviewed the flood prevention and safety measures being taken by the district administration to avert the flood threats and to save these areas and local people, cattle and their properties from flood disasters.
The Punjab CM said that the government was making efforts besides spending billions of rupees to save the areas, people, cattle and their properties from flood disasters here. He CM directed the officials to ensure early repairing, stone pitching and pavement of all the damaged protective dykes, embankments and banks of the rivers and seasonal Nullahs in these three districts by completing the repairing work on emergency grounds here.