https://arab.news/z48wb
- Nearly 800 killed nationwide since June 26 as monsoon rains trigger floods, landslides
- Relief camps set up in Punjab, mosque loudspeakers used to encourage evacuations
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani disaster management officials said on Tuesday over 150,000 people had been evacuated from flood-prone districts of Punjab province after water levels surged in the Sutlej and Ravi rivers amid relentless monsoon rains.
Pakistan has been battered by heavy rains since late June, leaving nearly 800 people dead. The most devastating spell began on Aug. 15 and has killed at least 485 people since, underscoring the scale of the disaster in one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries.
Since the monsoon season started on June 26, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has reported 479 deaths, followed by Punjab with 165, Sindh 54, Gilgit-Baltistan 45, Balochistan 24, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 23, and the capital Islamabad eight, according to official figures.
“NDMA issues advance alert to PDMA Punjab regarding rising water levels in the Sutlej River and potential flood situation,” the National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, adding that the alert had prompted large-scale evacuation operations in areas near the Sutlej River.
“As a result of the advance warning and alert issued by NDMA, approximately 150,000 people have so far been moved from flood-prone areas to safe locations,” it said.
These included 14,140 people from Kasur, 2,063 from Okara, 89,868 from Bahawalnagar, 361 from Bahawalpur, 165 from Vehari and 873 from Pakpattan.
The Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) also reported rising waters in the Ravi and Sutlej rivers.
“There is an extremely high flood at Ganda Singh Wala on the Sutlej River, where the inflow is 195,000 cusecs,” PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia said, adding that Sulemanki on the Sutlej was at medium flood with an inflow of 104,000 cusecs and an outflow of 98,000 cusecs.
“There is a medium-level flood at Jassar with an inflow of 90,000 cusecs and a low-level flood at Shahdara with 40,000 cusecs,” a PDMA spokesperson said, warning that between 60,000 and 70,000 cusecs could pass Shahdara later on Tuesday night.
“Citizens in riverbeds should immediately move to safe places,” PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia said, adding that mosque loudspeakers were being used to alert residents and instructed local administrations “to ensure no negligence in protecting lives and property.”
Punjab Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javed said flood relief camps had been established in affected areas and that “all basic facilities and medicines will be provided.” He also cautioned against landslides in Murree, Galiyat and other northern hill areas and advised residents to avoid unnecessary travel.
Officials say the ongoing monsoon spell is expected to last until at least September 10, while the NDMA has warned the rains could rival the scale of the catastrophic floods of 2022, which killed more than 1,700 people and caused over $30 billion in damage.
Annual monsoon rains are crucial for Pakistan’s agriculture and water supply but in recent years have also unleashed devastation, intensified by shifting climate patterns.
Despite contributing less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan ranks among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. In recent years it has endured increasingly erratic weather, including droughts, heatwaves and record-breaking rains that have caused widespread loss of life and damage to property.
Experts warn that without urgent adaptation and mitigation measures, the human and economic toll of climate change in Pakistan will only deepen in the years ahead.