According to Pakistani authorities, the breaches at the overflowing Chenab River were done overnight on Saturday. The explosives were planted on Thursday in preparation for blowing up three strategic embankments to divert the floodwaters away from the southern cities of Muzaffargarh and Multan in the eastern Punjab province.

The flooding in Pakistan and India began on September 3 due to heavy monsoon rains. Since then the waters hadve been moving downstream from Indian-controlled Kashmir through Pakistan's Punjab, inundating vast swathes of villages and small towns.

An army-led rescue and relief operation is underway in the affected areas. Officials said on Saturday the military was still evacuating people and air-dropping food packets.

According to Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), more than 1.8 million people have been affected by floods in both Pakistan and India.

Water-borne diseases

More than 200,000 people remain stranded in Indian-controlled Kashmir even as floodwaters have largely receded. Hundreds of people thronged medical camps to seek treatment for diarrhea, abdominal pain and skin allergies. Health officials say there is a serious risk of a mass outbreak of waterborne diseases in the flood-affected areas.

"Our doctors are working hard in the camps," Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told the local NDTV news channel. "As the floodwaters start receding, we are bound to have waterborne diseases," he added.

At the same time, the public anger over the slow pace of rescue efforts is mounting in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir. There have been reports of victims attacking emergency workers in some areas.

The Indian forces have rescued more than 96,000 people and operations were continuing, a Defense Ministry release said on Friday.

shs/nm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)