Islamabad, July 27 (IANS) As many as 10 people were killed and four others injured in floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB), local media reported on Sunday.
In addition, infrastructure worth over Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 20 billion was damaged in the floods.
As torrential monsoon rainfall continues to batter Pakistan, the death toll since the onset of monsoon has reached 266, according to the latest report issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), local media reported on Friday.
While addressing a press conference, Gilgit-Baltistan’s local leader Haji Gulbar Khan said that the floods had a major impact on seven districts of the region, destroying roads, water channels, homes and agricultural land.
He said that the limited resources are “insufficient to recover from the scale of this disaster” and requested the Pakistani government to provide assistance, Pakistan-based The News International reported.
He said that they have requested the federal government to provide PKR 7 billion for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure.
Meanwhile, multiple sections of Fairy Meadows Road in PoGB were blocked due to landslides after heavy rains, as aerial operation remained suspended due to adverse weather conditions, the leading Pakistani media outlet Geo News reported on Saturday.
According to the Chilas deputy commissioner, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has dispatched teams to the site, while search operations for missing persons are underway.
According to the Met Office, rain is likely to continue until July 31 in Muzaffarabad, Neelum Valley and Rawalakot areas of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and PoGB’s Hunza and Skardu regions.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued a nationwide alert on widespread rain, wind, and thundershowers, and warned of heavy to heavy rainfalls in several regions, raising concerns over potential flash floods, urban flooding, and landslides.
Heavy downpours have also raised fears of urban flooding in low-lying areas of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sialkot, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Okara, Nowshera, and Peshawar.
Meanwhile, heavy downpours early Wednesday morning submerged low-lying areas in Lahore and several other cities across Punjab province, hampering daily activities and electricity supply in multiple neighbourhoods.
Furthermore, rainfall also disrupted dozens of power feeders as water accumulated on major roads, severely affecting mobility and local infrastructure.
Relentless rainfall also lashed Lahore, inundating several underpasses and streets and crippling the drainage systems.
–IANS
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