ISLAMABAD - The Federal Flood Commission (FFC) has said that at present River Indus is experiencing “Medium Flood” at Kotri Barrage and “Low Flood” at Guddu Barrage. Meanwhile, the other major rivers in the Indus River System (Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej) are discharging normal flow. Tarbela Reservoir has maintained its Maximum Conservation Level of 1,550.00 feet since August 19, 2024. Mangla Reservoir is currently at an elevation of 1,219.10 feet compared to its Maximum Conservation Level of 1,242 feet. Combined live storage of the Tarbela, Chashma and Mangla Reservoirs stands at 11.589 MAF which is 86.78 percent of their total live storage capacity of 13.354 MAF, said a daily FFC report on Friday.
According to Flood Forecasting Division (FFD), Lahore, the deep depression that was situated over Northwestern Gujrat (India) and adjoining Southeastern Sindh has moved Southwestward and is now located over the Northeastern Arabian Sea, approximately 120-km South of Thatta City. The trough associated with this deep depression extends up to Northern Punjab. Additionally, a new monsoon low-pressure area has developed over Southeastern Odisha (India). Westerly Wave trough continues to persist over the Northern Pakistan, while a weak seasonal low is present over Northwestern Balochistan. Light to moderate moist currents from Bay of Bengal are penetrating into the upper catchments of all the major rivers while strong moist currents from both the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are penetrating into Southern Sindh and adjacent areas up to 10,000 feet at reporting time. For the ensuing 24 hours, FFD, Lahore has predicted scattered thunderstorm rain of Moderate Intensity with isolated Heavy Falls over Islamabad, Punjab (Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Multan and Bahawalpur divisions), Sindh (Sukkur and Mirpurkhas divisions) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including upper catchments of all major rivers of IRS. During same period, widespread thunderstorm rain of heavy to very heavy intensity with isolated extremely heavy falls may occur over Punjab (DG Khan division), Sindh (Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions) and Balochistan (Zhob, Loralai, Sibbi, Makran, Nasirabad and Kalat divisions).
As a result, there is a potential for flash flooding in areas along the Kirthar Range (including Jacobabad, Qambar Shandadkot, Dadu and Jamshoro districts in Sindh) and the Sulaiman Range (including DG Khan and Rajanpur districts in Punjab) as well as in the nullahs of Balochistan (Zhob, Loralai, Sibbi, Nasirabad and Kalat divisions).
Additionally, urban flooding is likely in the major cities of Sindh through August 31, 2024.
Over the next 48 hours, the wet spell is expected to decrease after 24 hours in Sindh and Southern Punjab. However, monsoon activity is likely to persist in Southern Balochistan for an additional 24 hours.
From August 31 to September 6, 2024, the wet spell is anticipated to diminish across most parts of the country. Nonetheless, scattered rainfall of moderate intensity with isolated heavy falls is still expected during this period.
