Multan | Pakistan

• Residents say controlled breaches can give floodwaters a path back to Chenab • Several parts of Jamshoro remain under water LAHORE / DADU: A vast reservoir of floodwater continues to rise along the eastern side of the M-5 motorway, inundating farmland and threatening to erase entire villages in Multan’s Jalalpur Pirwala tehsil. Fifteen days after breaches first appeared at the Noraja Bhutta embankment on the Sutlej River, residents in union councils across Multan, Bahawalpur and Lodhran remain stranded, with many clinging to embankments as the water swallows their homes. To prevent damage to the highway, the National Highway Authority (NHA) has blocked culverts and bridges with heavy stones, effectively turning the motorway into a dam. But this is preventing floodwaters from draining away and causing water levels to rise on the eastern side, creating a dam-like effect from Noraja Bhutta embankment to the motorway. Communities in Noraja Bhutta, Bahadurpur, Basti Lang, Kanu, Dipal, Tarut Basharat, Daily Rajan...

Rising floodwaters in the Chenab River have posed a grave threat to Multan, prompting authorities to decide on breaching the Shershah flood protective Bund to avert large-scale damage.

Five people drowned as a boat capsized in the Chenab River in the Jalalpur Pirwala area of Punjab’s Multan district on Saturday amid a flood evacuation, according to officials. Multan Deputy Commissioner (DC) Wasim Hamid Sindhu and City Police Officer (CPO) Sadiq Ali Dogar later reached the site for an inspection and were briefed by officials present there. “The causes of the boat accident are being carefully examined. Initially, five deaths, including children on board the boat, have been confirmed,” DC Sindhu was quoted as saying in a statement. A statement from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) also put the toll at five. He ordered the rescue authorities to immediately intensify the search operation. “Rescue operations are being carried out to search for more people on board the boat,” Sindhu said. Meanwhile, CPO Dogar said police teams were providing full support to Rescue 1122 and the initial reasons for the boat accident included the darkness and flooded routes. The initial report from...

MULTAN/LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif got angry over closure of shops during her Multan visit to review flood relief activities.

• Preparations in place for more ‘controlled breaches’ as waters from Ravi-Chenab set to converge • PDMA chief fears renewed flooding in central Punjab as Indian dams near max capacity; says ‘Ravi flowing backwards’ instead of merging with Chenab • 3.7m affected across province, death toll jumps to 46; another massive surge expected at Multan tomorrow LAHORE: As the confluence of the swollen Ravi and Chenab rivers near Khanewal threatens the districts of Multan and Muzaffargarh, provincial authorities on Wednesday braced for an unprecedented disaster in light of a “dual threat”, which persisted despite several controlled breaches over the past week. The water level at Muhammadwala and Sher Shah was recorded at 412 feet, only five feet below critical level. The authorities termed the next 12 hours critical, as the pressure at the breaching points continued to increase after the convergence of the Ravi and Chenab rivers near Khanewal. In order to save urban centres along the eastern rivers, the Punjab governmen...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday visited Multan’s Qasim Bela relief camp to inspect arrangements and meet flood-affected families.

BAHAWALPUR: Allappa police in Multan booked three persons, including a hakeem (herbalist) on Thursday, for allegedly sexually assaulting the women patients visiting his ‘clinic’, recording their videos and later blackmailing them. According to police sources, the case was registered on the report of a constable, Muhammad Owais, who says the hakeem was running a clinic, where he installed secret cameras in the examination room. He says the hakeem, in connivance with his two accomplices, sexually assaults the women patients visiting the clinic, on the pretext of examining them and records their videos. The suspects would later extort money, jewellery and other valuables from these women by blackmailing them. He said the suspects also uploaded obscene videos of some of the women patients on social media. Acting on the complaint, Allappa police registered a case against the suspects who are yet to be arrested. WOMAN TORTURED: A man, along with his brother, allegedly tortured his wife and forcibly cut her hair in ...

The Punjab Police on Wednesday said they arrested a man suspected of molesting a minor girl in Multan district after a video of the incident went viral online. The video of the incident did the rounds on social media earlier in the week and generated intense criticism with calls for the suspect to be arrested, particularly as it came after the police arrested a man after footage showing him allegedly molesting a minor girl in Kasur district also went viral online. A statement issued by the Multan Crime Control Department (CCD) today said: “The man who attempted to sexually assault a girl was arrested in an ‘injured’ condition.” The incident occurred on July 15 in Mustafa Colony, Rashidabad area, with the limits of Bahauddin Zakaria Police Station when “an unknown person tried to sexually assault a girl in the street and fled from the scene”, according to the statement. A case was registered under Section 377B (unnatural offences with a minor) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) at the BZ Police Station and the i...