The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the postponement of by-elections in Punjab due to heavy rains and floods that have devastated infrastructure and disrupted administrative functions across the province.
As per the details, NA-66 Wazirabad, NA-96 Faisalabad, NA-104 Faisalabad, NA-129 Lahore and NA-143 Sahiwal are among the constituencies of the National Assembly where elections have been postponed. In the provincial assembly, the by-polls were postponed in PP-73 Sargodha, PP-87 Mianwali, PP-98 Faisalabad and PP-203 Sahiwal constituencies.
In an official notification, the ECP noted that floods have destroyed both public and private infrastructure, including school buildings that are typically used for polling stations and storage of election material.
The commission added that district returning officers (DROs) had reported that polling staff, mostly drawn from government departments, was currently engaged in rescue and relief operations, making it impossible to conduct elections.
“The decision to postpone the elections is in the public interest,” it said and added that polling would resume once the situation stabilises to ensure that elections are conducted with optimum security and full voter participation.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has reported that several rivers in the province remain in spate with substantial water inflows being observed at key headworks.
According to the PDMA, the flow of water in the River Chenab at Marala Headworks has reached 117,000 cusecs, while at Khanki Headworks, it has risen to 248,000 cusecs. The discharge at Qadirabad Headworks stands at 385,000 cusecs and 554,000 cusecs at Chiniot Bridge.
At Trimmu Headworks, the flow is measured at 239,000 cusecs, whereas in Ravi, the flow at Jassar is 80,000 cusecs. The same stands at 110,000 cusecs at Ravi Siphon and 108,000 cusecs at Shahdara. The flow at Balloki Headworks has reached 138,000 cusecs.
In Sutlej, water discharge at Ganda Singh Wala is reported at 319,000 cusecs while at Islam Headworks, it stands at 102,000 cusecs. At Panjnad Headworks, the inflow has reached 224,000 cusecs.