Incessant rains played havoc in hilly areas of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts. At least 15 villages have been devastated near Harand and five people were died due to high flood in a small river Kaha-Sultan, which had been dried for the last 20 years. At least 50 people were marooned. The army was called to save the lives of the people. Some people were safely evacuated with the help of helicopter on Tuesday morning, while the army men with the help of life jackets and motor boats were taking out other villagers.
"We have sought help of army for the assistance of civilian administration in Harand area to save the lives of thousands of people who have still been marooned in the area. Some of them reportedly climbed on trees to save their lives and in fact they need quick help," DPO Rajanpur Maqsood-ul-Hassan told this correspondent.
Irrigation authorities said that Kaha Sultan River, which originates from Afghanistan and falls into river Indus after crossing the Balochistan and Suleman range, was in flood and 10 to 14 feet high water, is flowing in the river.
This river had been remained dry for two decades due to shortage of water.
Authorities further said there were more than 200 hill torrents (call Rod Kohis) in Southern Punjab, which had played havoc in 280-kilometre long belt, besides affecting more than 0.2 million people of more than 200 villages.
They said that the Punjab government was planning to tame these hill torrents with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank by constructing small dams to irrigate maximum area during dry season.