Islamabad (Werb Desk): The Federal Flood Commission (FFC) has reported significant flooding in several of the country’s major rivers, including the Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Indus, with various locations experiencing exceptional to medium flood levels.
According to the FFC’s daily update issued on Thursday, the Indus River is witnessing low-level flooding along its Taunsa, Guddu, Sukkur, and Kotri stretches. Meanwhile, the Chenab River is experiencing a medium flood at Marala, where water levels are beginning to recede. However, water levels remain critically high at Khanki and Qadirabad, though these too are showing a downward trend.
The Ravi River is also under considerable stress. It is currently flowing in high flood at Jassar with a decreasing trend, while Shahdara is facing an exceptionally high flood with water levels still rising. Balloki is also seeing rising waters, currently in high flood and likely to escalate. Forecasts suggest that Shahdara’s floodwaters will begin to decline within the next 24 hours, though Balloki is expected to reach an exceptional high flood level within the same period.
As for the Sutlej, an exceptionally high flood persists at Ganda Singh Wala, with water levels remaining steady. At Suleimanki, the river is flowing in a medium flood condition, also with a steady trend.
These elevated water levels are primarily due to the release of water from upstream dams in India, which is expected to sustain the critical flood levels in the Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala and downstream areas.
In addition, the Chenab River is anticipated to reach exceptional high flood levels at Trimmu by Friday evening, further compounding the flood situation in the region.
Reservoirs across the country are also nearing capacity. Tarbela Dam has reached its maximum conservation level of 1,550 feet. In contrast, Mangla Reservoir is currently at 1,222.60 feet, standing 19.40 feet below its maximum conservation threshold of 1,242 feet.
Collectively, the live water storage in the Tarbela, Chashma, and Mangla reservoirs has reached 11.740 million acre-feet (MAF), which is approximately 88.16% of the total live storage capacity of 13.316 MAF.