Lahore:
Large-scale rescue and relief operations continued over Punjab on Sunday, when flooding water from the river Ravi and heavy rain left thousands stranded in low-lying areas.
Rescue 1122 Teams, Punjab police and the motorway police reported extensive evacuations, with the total number of saved people throughout the province of over 154,000.
According to Rescue 1122 spokesman Farooq Ahmed saved emergency personnel 220 people, including women, children and older citizens, from Khurdpur Village near Manga Mandi. Another 16 people were evacuated from Wadana, a nearby settlement. All rescued individuals were moved to safe locations along with household content. Ahmed said rescue 1122’s flooding information continued day and night when calls were received through the helmet.
Citizens were asked to share accurate locations when seeking help to enable timely response.
The Punjab police said the province’s comprehensive evacuations had reached a significant number. The rescued includes 63,788 men, 45,337 women and over 45,000 children. Police also changed more than 167,000 livestock to secure areas to prevent loss.
In Lahore, more than 6,000 people were evacuated.
The Punjab police spokesman said the operations are supported by over 700 vehicles and 40 boats.
Inspector of Punjab Police Dr. Usman Anwar ordered improved patrol in evacuated neighborhoods to protect citizens’ property from theft or damage.
In emergency camps, the police have been assigned the task of providing full security in addition to ensuring that food and other necessities are delivered to displaced.
Dr. Anwar ordered coordination with Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), district administrations, rescue 1122 and other security agencies as well as regular patrol in villages and settlements along riverbanks to monitor the flooding situation.
