Spate in Chenab River: 'over 0.2 million may be affected in Multan district'

More than 0.2 million people of Multan district will be affected due to spate in River Chenab as 8,50,000 cusecs of water will pass through this area, said Punjab Minister Chaudhry Abdul Waheed Arain on Wednesday. He said that 80 percent population has so far been evacuated from low-lying areas of Multan.
The minister said that protective bunds of Multan city would be breached from two points in order to secure structure of the Chenab Bridge as well as Multan city and cantonment. District Co-ordination Officer (DCO) Multan, Zahid Saleem Gondal told that dynamite was planted at the suggested places to lessen the pressure of the water. However this breach would affect another 200 villages of Multan tehsil, he added.
He said that 510 villages have so far been inundated in Multan, Shujabad and Jalalpur Pirwala. He said that standing crops of cotton, sugarcane over hundreds of acres of land would be affected also. Current water level at Chenab Bridge is 350,000 cusecs and the level was rising.