By Aamir Latif
ISLAMABAD
The death toll in flood-related accidents in northeastern Pakistan jumped to 150 on Sunday, officials said, as swirling rivers in the Punjab region have inundated over 600 villages in the last four days.
Water levels in three major rivers of Punjab – Satluj, Chenab and Jehlum - are riding and administration officials have asked thousands of residents in Gujranwala, Sialkot, Jehlum, Okara, Gujrat and other districts to leave the affected areas to safety.
Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani army’s mouthpiece, said that over 3,000 people, stranded in floodwater in various districts, have been evacuated by helicopter or boat.
The army and other relief and rescue agencies are on red alert as the Pakistan Meteorological office has forecast another spell of rains and flashfloods in parts of Punjab and in the southern Sindh Province for September 13 and 14.
Torrential rains that led to flashfloods hit the northern parts of Punjab and Pakistani-administered Kashmir on Thursday causing widespread devastation.
Lahore, the state capital, is the most affected district as 69 people have been killed in the last 4 days in rain-related incidents. Around two dozen people have been killed in Kashmir.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who, on Sunday, visited the flood-hit areas in Sialkot district, told reporters that his government had announced a flood emergency in the affected areas.
Massive floods in 2010 had killed 2000 people and submerged one fifth of Pakistan, destroying a huge quantity of crops as well as thousands of buildings.
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