Pak towns face flood risk if river barrage crumbles

Pakistan's eastern towns of Chiniot and Hafizabad face a risk of catastrophic floods if an irrigation barrage crumbles on a major river upstream after heavy rains swelled it beyond capacity, officials warned yesterday.

Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan are battling torrential monsoon rains that have unleashed flash floods, swelled rivers and filled dams, with 60 deaths this month in Indian Kashmir, and Pakistan's toll at 805 since late June.

Any flooding blamed on India stands to inflame ties between archfoes, embroiled in a tense stand-off since a brief conflict in May.

The waters of the Chenab river in Pakistan's sprawling province of Punjab threatened to burst through a 3,300-foot (concrete barrage at Qadirabad that regulates flows, siphoning them into a canal irrigation network.

"It is a crisis situation," said a technical expert at the National Disaster Management Authority, adding that the collapse of the barrage could wash away the towns, home to more than 2.8 million.

"Under the constant supervision of experts and administration, the water level is receding, but it is still not beyond danger levels," added the official. The threat comes as India's release of excess water this week from its dams swelled river flows downstream in its neighbour's province of Punjab, home to half the population of 240 million.