•Thousands of vehicles are stuck, supply chains are destroyed
•The Sutlej River forms a 20-25 km inland lake, stretching along Gilani Road-M5
• Official acknowledges that controlled violations may reduce damage
•One died, with the boat tilted in Muzaffargarh; three families drowned in Alipur
Lahore: Disastrous escalation in Punjab disasternear Jalalpur Pirwala, the large-scale new part of the Multan-Suker Expressway (M5) was completely washed away, cutting off important national infrastructure ties and stranding the area for the eighth consecutive day.
The loophole expanded rapidly due to the unremitting water pressure of the Sutlej River and has now swallowed up all six lanes of the two tracks, paralyzing all traffic between the southern and central Punjab. The collapse destroyed supply chains, stranded thousands of vehicles and forced travelers to enter dangerous backup routes.
“This is the second major violation to weaken the M5,” a spokesperson for the Irrigation Department confirmed. “The new violation is actively expanding. Our emergency team is locking up to work, leaving the bowlers desperately trying to stabilize the ground.”
The scale of the disaster is fasting. The Sutlej River effectively creates a 20 to 25 km inland lake between Gilani Road and the M5 motorway, flooding and destroying the expressway along the entire length of the region.
Regional government officials, dawn In the condition of anonymity, revealing the scale of a difficult decision that could mitigate the damage. “It is better to pass the Sutley River water through chenab with a controlled violation on the street, but no timely decision was made,” the official said.
Due to moderate flooding of the Satley River, thousands of people were evacuated from the Multan, Lordland and Bahawalpur regions.
The water continues to change from the vulnerability in Norja Bhutta to indicate the village between Gilani Road and the M5 motorway.
Meanwhile, a man was drowned and 14 people were recovered when a rescue ship leaned around 15 people in the Caps of the Alipur Tehsil in Muzaffargarh area. In another incident, three members of a family were flooded in Basti Arain of Aripur, as they tried to cross the water.
All flood relief camps in Multan and Shujabad Tehsil were closed as people affected by the flood returned home, said Wasem Yousuf, a spokesman for the Multan Regional Government.
He said the government has also started an investigation to calculate the losses in areas where floods were cleared.
However, he said that the relief camp in Multan Saddar Tehsil has not been closed due to people affected by the floods, and Jalalpur Pirwala Tehsil will not close the flood camp until the situation returns to normal.
He said the city department team will use the latest technology to conduct the investigation, adding that district government officials have begun the process of spraying homes affected by floods, and the health department team is being used to use sprays to kill bacteria.
In Muzaffargarh, the water level of the Chenab River returned to normal, and the water exited from the tortured area. People affected by the flood have begun to return home in areas where the water recedes.
People who suffered floods lived in 20 of the 30 relief camps established. About 16,650 people affected by the flood live in relief camps, while 10,350 affected live in tents on flood embankments.
PDMA DG Irfan Ali Kathia said flooding conditions in the Punjab rivers have returned to normal and the currents in most Punjab rivers have normalized.
He said a significant drop in water levels was observed in flood-affected areas.
On the Sutlej River, Ganda Singh Wala has a 104,000 Cuseecs and 81,000 in Sulemanki.
He said the current at Marala point in the Chenab River is 42,000, 44,000 Cuseecs in Khanki Headworks, 37,000 Cuseecs in Qadirabad, 41,000 Cuseecs in Head Trimmu and 133,000 Cuseecs in Panjnad.
On the Ravi River, the currents of Jassar Point are 8,000 Cuseecs, 9,000 Cuseecs in Shahdara, 31,000 Cuseecs in Balloki and 29,000 Cuseecs in Sidhnai.
According to PDMA, reports on losses caused by floods in Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab Rivers, as many as 127 citizens have been killed in various incidents in the recent floods.
Due to the flood situation in the river, 4.75 million people in 47 million villages were affected. As many as 2.09 million animals were relocated to safe locations during rescue and relief activities in affected areas.
Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javaid said the Mangla dam is 96% full and the Tarbela dam is 100%.
He said the Indian Bakra Dam on the Sutley River is 88%, the Peng Dam is 99%, and the Thion Dam is 90%.
Posted at Dawn on September 21, 2025
