ISLAMABAD: At least four people were killed and 19 injured in rain-related incidents across Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province over the past 24 hours, the provincial disaster management authority said on Thursday, as monsoon downpours triggered building collapses and drownings in several districts.
The statement came as authorities in both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa warned of continued rainfall through July 1, with Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issuing a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) alert for the country’s northern regions a day earlier.
“Two people died when weak, dilapidated structures collapsed in Okara and Bahawalnagar,” the Punjab PDMA said in a statement. “Two others drowned in separate incidents in Jhelum.”
Thirteen houses were also damaged in the province, mostly in rural or structurally vulnerable areas, the statement added.
Punjab’s disaster agency urged citizens to take precautionary measures and said financial compensation for the victims’ families would be provided under government policy.
Separately, the PDMA in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa warned of torrential rains and hailstorms in several districts from Thursday evening through July 1, with a risk of glacier bursts in the north.
It issued alerts to local administrations in Chitral, Swat, Upper and Lower Dir and Kohistan to initiate preemptive measures and inform nearby communities.
Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with a history of extreme weather events linked to erratic monsoon patterns, glacial melt and heatwaves.
In 2022, record floods killed over 1,700 people and caused more than $30 billion in damages.
On Wednesday, the NDMA said continued high temperatures and intense monsoon activity were putting stress on glacial lakes in Pakistan’s mountainous north, raising the risk of flash floods.
Valleys in Chitral and Ghizer are among the most vulnerable, with warnings issued to avoid travel near glaciers and riverbanks.
