ISLAMABAD: New satellite photographs revealed that the largest freshwater lake in the nation began overflowing in early September after weeks of intense monsoon rains, putting thousands of residents at risk of losing their homes.
The Manchhar Lake banks are breached in the photos, which were taken by NASA’s Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 satellites.Some of the breaches were done on purpose by local officials to stop the overfilled lake from overflowing into highly inhabited areas in the Indus River Valley.
The satellite photographs highlight the increasing magnitude of the floods on August 28 and September 5, and they first show the pre-flood environment on July 25.The breaches pose a flood risk to 100,000 residents of the valley’s several hundred towns, according to a statement from NASA officials.
More than 1,300 people have died and many more have been injured in the floods, which are the worst to hit Pakistan in at least ten years. Thousands of people are currently displaced, and over a million homes have been damaged.
One of the states that has been most severely impacted by the water is Sindh, where Lake Manchhar is situated.This year’s rainfall in the area has already exceeded it by five times, according to NASA’s statement.The Met Office predicts that there will likely be more rain in the upcoming days.
