Southern Punjab on tenterhooks

After wreaking widespread destruction across vast swathes of central Punjab and claiming over 180 lives the flash flood wave of one million cusecs of water is entering districts of Multan, Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur in Southern Punjab today.
-- Floods wreak havoc across central Punjab
-- Pakistan Army battling to rescue a large number of people trapped by flooding
-- Rain-swollen Jhelum has also flooded large parts of Srinagar in Indian-held Kashmir
The Punjab government has declared flood emergency in the province as the unexpected floods have left a trail of destruction in Hafizabad, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Faizabad and Wazirabad districts inundating hundreds of thousands of acres of agriculture land and leaving several areas cut off from the rest of the country. Train service between Lahore, Narowal, Sialkot and Wazirabad has been suspended.
According to an ISPR press release, troops and other emergency personnel have been deployed on a rescue operation. Boats and helicopters are being used to reach stranded people.
The operation of Pakistan Army is underway and 3,000 people have been rescued in Jhelum, Sarai Alamghir, and Sialkot so far. The operation is being carried out with the help of five helicopters and 300 boats, ISPR said.
Nearly 200 villages in Hafizabad and over 80 villages in Chiniot have been inundated as floodwater entered Jhang city. "A red alert" has been issued in four districts-Jhelum, Sialkot, Nankana Sahib and Narowal-where the situation was still precarious.
The death toll has soared past 180 while the number of injured has crossed the 500 mark. Several localities of Wazirabad city were inundated as Nullah Palkhu swelled due to intermittent rains. Those localities were inundated, include Jinnah Colony, Model Colony, Haji Pura and Gondalpur. The floodwater has accumulated four to five feet in the localities forcing the people to take shelter at rooftops of their houses. The floodwater is also hitting Skindarpur locality and Dhonkal road.
According to reports, floodwater of Chenab River has entered at least 80 villages in Chinot, compelling thousands of people to leave their houses for safe places. In Jhelum, Shahnti Nagari locality of the district has completely devastated by rains as helpless affected people have taken shelter under an open sky.
The Federal Flood Commission (FFC) has said that presently River Chenab is flowing in very high flood at Marala, Khanki and Qadirabad bridges. Over 0.9 million cusecs of water passed through Khanki and Qadirabad barrages submerging hundreds of villages on both sides of the river.
River Chenab at Khanki and Qadirabad is in 'Exceptionally High Flood Level'. River Chenab at Marala is in 'Very High Flood Level', but falling. River Ravi at Balloki is in 'Medium Flood Level'. River Jhelum at Mangla, River Ravi at Jassar and Shahdara are in 'Low Flood Level'.
FFC flood warning for Sindh:
FFC said on Sunday that according to latest hydrological condition, River Indus at Guddu is likely to attain high to very high flood level on 13th September to 14th September 2014.
River Indus at Sukkur is likely to attain 'High to Very High Flood Level' on 14th September to 15th September 2014. All authorities concerned have been advised to take all necessary measures.
Weather forecast for today:
Mainly hot and humid weather is expected in most parts of the country. However, fairly widespread thundershowers with gusty winds and isolated heavy falls would occur over upper catchment of rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej. Further, scattered thundershowers with gusty winds and isolated heavy falls would occur over Upper Punjab including Islamabad, Fata, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Also, isolated thundershowers with gusty winds may hit Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Karachi, Kalat, Naseerabad, Sibbi, Quetta, Zhob divisions, central and lower Punjab.
AFP adds: Soldiers were battling Sunday to rescue thousands of people trapped by Indian held Kashmir's worst flooding for half a century which has killed at least 150 people and left the main city of occupied Srinagar under water.
Some 350 villages have also been submerged since torrential monsoon rains triggered flooding and landslides across the picturesque Himalayan region of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
The rain-swollen Jhelum river flooded large parts of occupied Srinagar on Sunday and forced frantic residents onto rooftops, with reports the first floors of a children's hospital and of another hospital were underwater.
Thousands of troops, police and other emergency personnel, backed by helicopters and boats, have been deployed across the state to reach those stranded, with at least 11,000 people rescued.
"Thousands of people are still stranded and we have rescued several thousands," police Inspector General of Jammu region, Rajesh Kumar, told AFP.
"More than 150 bodies have (also) been recovered so far. The exact number is hard to assess as we are still searching for bodies."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi toured the region and met top relief officials. He described the situation as "a national-level disaster".
"We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of occupied J&K in this hour of crisis," Modi said in a tweet.
Photos showed residents wading through thigh-deep waters clutching their belongings, stranded on rooftops or crammed into army boats with blankets, while others showed bridges and roads destroyed.
The state's chief minister, Omar Abdullah, said the floods were "unprecedented" but urged residents not to panic, saying rescuers would eventually reach them.
A police official in occupied Srinagar, a city of 900,000, said he feared the true extent of the devastation was not yet known because phone networks were down and areas cut off.
"We are in a catastrophic situation," he told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that Srinagar's police headquarters was under water.
"Many people may have died and houses collapsed but we are not getting to know much (information)," he said.
Trapped in homes
In occupied Srinagar, an army headquarters was under water along with some government buildings, according to local reports and TV footage.
An AFP reporter in the city was forced to the third floor of his house after water flooded the second, with no sign of emergency officials to evacuate him.
"We will have to move to the roof but we are also worried about the building collapsing," he said adding that water has risen about 12 feet (3.6 metres).
Another resident, Aakifa Javaid, said her local mosque announced on loudspeakers that "it would be a difficult night, no one should sleep" as the river overflowed.
Like hundreds of others in her neighbourhood in the city's north, she fled in the middle of the night when the water reached her home.
Thousands of soldiers, backed by 22 helicopters and four aircraft, have fanned out across the Kashmir Valley and the rest of the state to deliver aid and restore communications, said national cabinet secretary Ajit Seth.
"About 70 boats have (also) been airlifted, 20 have already left from Palam (in Delhi) a short while ago," he told the NDTV network.
Several thousand villages in the region, which has long been in the grip of a deadly separatist insurgency, have been hit and 350 of them are submerged, the home ministry said late Saturday.