ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s southern Sindh province is bracing for potentially catastrophic flooding as swollen rivers from the north rush downstream, the provincial government said on Tuesday, urging vulnerable riverbank communities to move to relief camps as authorities reinforced embankments along the Indus, the country’s longest river.
The alert comes after weeks of record monsoon rains across Punjab, Pakistan’s agricultural heartland, where millions of people have already been displaced by torrents from the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers. Floodwaters from those rivers are now merging into the Indus in Sindh, threatening farmland, villages, and major towns. Releases from Indian dams on the Sutlej have added to the flows, with authorities in New Delhi easing pressure on swollen reservoirs during heavy rains.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has warned of a new spell of rain in Sindh and neighboring Balochistan, with risks of severe urban flooding in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Sukkur as well as flash floods in mountain catchments.
Officials say the Sindh government has made preparations for a “super flood” and is reinforcing weak embankments after inspecting defenses at barrages along the Indus.
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Sindh’s ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman and a former foreign minister, on Tuesday visited the Guddu and Sukkur barrages, two critical flood-control structures on the Indus, where officials briefed him on preparations.
“In every eventuality, difficulties are there for people, especially for poor people who live close to river, whether it is medium flood, high flood, very high flood or super flood,” he told reporters.
When asked about the likelihood of unprecedented flooding, he said: “I believe we should take it seriously. A flood is a flood.”
The Sindh government said it had set up 528 relief camps and 159 medical camps across flood-hit districts since late August, housing over 143,000 displaced people. More than 390,000 livestock, vital to rural livelihoods, have also been evacuated, with veterinary services established in high-risk areas.
Bhutto-Zardari warned the country was facing a food security crisis after $1.5 billion in agricultural losses, mostly in Punjab.
“I and the Pakistan Peoples Party are of the opinion that we should declare an agricultural emergency nationwide, and whatever can be done by the federal and provincial governments, we must help our Pakistani farmers,” he said.
Nationwide, the NDMA has said 928 people have died in floods, rains and related incidents since June 26.
President Asif Ali Zardari has directed urgent measures to safeguard food supplies, urging officials to protect farmers and livestock, strengthen storage and distribution systems, and adopt climate-resilient practices to withstand future shocks.
RAIN TRIGGERS URBAN FLOODS IN KARACHI
As provincial government braced for Indus flood, heavy rain on Tuesday submerged several areas across Karachi, Sindh’s provincial capital and the country commercial hub.
The showers flooded Malir River and Thado Dam in Karachi, with the Pakistan Meteorological Department saying at around 11pm the rains would continue for another 2 to 5 hours.
“Malir River water level has reached 12 feet, while an overflow of 4.5 feet has also been recorded at Thado Dam,” Saleem Baloch, special assistant to Sindh CM, said in a statement, appealing to the masses to be cautious.
“Avoid going near rivers, drains and low-lying areas.”
Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab visited different areas of the city late at night to review of the water drainage process.
“He instructed officials to increase pumping machines in case of further rain,” Wahab’s office said. “Directions given to maintain close contact with the district administration for immediate redressal of public complaints.”
PUNJAB
Punjab province, Pakistan’s most populous and its main farming belt, has borne the brunt of the disaster of the latest monsoon spell that began late last month.
According to Irfan Ali Kathia, director general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), 66 people have been killed, 21 million displaced or evacuated to safer areas, and around 1.95 million acres of farmland inundated.
He said the province had seen “the largest water torrents in its history,” with the biggest rescue operation ever mounted in Punjab. The army joined civilian agencies to relocate people from low-lying villages along the Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers.
Kathia detailed current water flows: 253,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) at Ganda Singh Wala on the Sutlej near the Indian border, 34,000 cusecs in the Ravi, 300,000 cusecs at Trimmu, 300,000 cusecs at Punjnad, and over 400,000 cusecs at Guddu in Sindh.
Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javed said over 4.2 million people across 4,300 villages had been affected and more than 1.57 million animals evacuated.
BALOCHISTAN
The NDMA has also issued warnings for Balochistan, a sparsely populated but mountainous southwestern province where heavy rains can trigger flash floods in seasonal rivers known as nullahs. Authorities forecast downpours in Hub, Lasbela, Khuzdar, Awaran, Kech, Gwadar, Ormara and Hingol Valley, raising fears of dangerous torrents that could damage roads, crops and weak housing.
Pakistan has ranked among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, experiencing increasingly erratic monsoons, untimely rains, heat waves and droughts in recent years. Monsoon rains bring up to 80 percent of the nation’s annual precipitation and are vital for replenishing rivers and agriculture, but their growing intensity has turned them into a recurring disaster.
