Flood threat in parts of Pakistan as India releases water from Dams and other reservoirs

In Pakistan, authorities have warned people of possible flooding in many rivers in Punjab province after heavy inflows surge from Indian dams and other water reservoirs, hours after New Delhi’s notice to Islamabad about releasing water into the Sutlej and Chenab rivers that have already overflowed into Pakistani territory.

Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in its advisory has warned that heavy rainfall across India could swell rivers and streams flowing towards Pakistan. According to NDMA the Ravi River is expected to experience high flood levels ranging between 80,000 and 125,000 cusecs. While as in River Chenab, discharge at Marala in Pakistan could climb to between 150,000 and 200,000 cusecs. As per the official reports, the flow of River Sutlej could rise to 220,000 cusecs. According to the Flood Forecasting Division river was already in very high flood with discharge reaching 188,810 cusecs.

According to the official sources, the Punjab province is likely to face high flood in almost all eastern rivers prompting mass evacuations. As per rescue officials, thousands of people have already been relocated from the low-lying areas of the Indus, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers in recent days. These rivers were experiencing low to high flooding due to torrential monsoon rains in the catchment areas and more rain was expected.

Meanwhile, the Provincial authorities in Punjab issued a flood alert due to heavy rains across the border. There is a risk of flooding in the upper reaches of these rivers due to heavy rain and this may result in a risk of high to very high flooding in the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej Rivers.

The Indian government on Monday made a second contact with Pakistan to warn Islamabad about a potential flood in the Sutlej River, after issuing a previous warning about the River Chenab. According to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign affairs, India communicated flood warnings through diplomatic channels, rather than through the Indus Waters Commission as required under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the permanent mechanism created under the 1960 IWT. The communication marked the first diplomatic-level contact between India and Pakistan since the 4 days war in May this year.