After weeks of devastating flooding in KP, it is now the turn of Punjab which is facing its worst monsoon floods in decades, triggered by a combination of torrential rains and excess water discharged by India in the Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers. The three eastern rivers — allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty — are now experiencing high floods, with forecasts of more rains in the catchment areas.
Punjab government officials say that the floods have affected 15,016,603 people, while more than 481,000 people have been evacuated and shifted to safe locations from the flood-affected areas. According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), floods have so far inundated more than 2,300 villages, displacing an estimated 1.5 million people. Around 481,000 stranded individuals have been moved to safer areas. Relief efforts are underway, with 511 relief camps set up in flood-hit districts, along with 351 medical camps and 321 veterinary facilities.
Rescue teams have also shifted over 405,000 livestock to safety. As for the humanitarian toll, more than 30 people have died in the ongoing floods, including two fatalities in Lahore. Torrential rains and gushing river waters have also caused widespread losses to crops, homes, roads and bridges.
Due to the overflowing Sutlej River, Kasur has recorded its highest water levels since 1955. In other parts of Punjab, floodwaters have cut off land access to villages in Sialkot, Pasrur, Hafizabad and Pakpattan. In Chishtian, a breach in the Sutlej embankment inundated homes and farmland, affecting nearly 50 settlements. In Sialkot’s Bajwat area, 85 villages have lost road connectivity, leaving residents stranded. The Ravi and Chenab rivers are also under pressure. While Lahore’s immediate threat has eased after water levels dropped in the Ravi, the situation remains volatile downstream in Okara, Sahiwal and Toba Tek Singh. In Jhelum, overflowing streams and nullahs have inundated residential neighbourhoods, while in Sheikhupura and Chiniot, low-lying areas are under several feet of water.
On the other hand, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued red alerts for the Indus River, warning of extreme flooding in the coming days. At Panjnad Headworks, flows of up to 950,000 cusecs are expected, with potential breaches pushing water levels toward 900,000 cusecs. The Guddu Barrage could face flows ranging from 800,000 to 1.1 million cusecs, posing grave risks to low-lying areas downstream. Sindh is preparing for fresh surges in the Indus, while Balochistan is bracing for floodwaters expected to enter the province through Jaffarabad, Usta Muhammad, Sohbatpur and Rojhan.
The government has lost no time in initiating rescue and relief efforts for the flood affected people. Rescue teams, backed by the army, are working day and night to move people and livestock to higher ground. According to media reports, authorities have evacuated thousands of families from Kasur, Multan, Hafizabad and Chishtian, while rescue teams are using boats to relocate residents in the hardest-hit districts. An estimated 200,000 people have been evacuated and relocated to relief camps for medical care, food and other essential services since mid-August. Army troops have been deployed in at least eight districts to assist the civil authorities in moving residents to safety.
To deal with the threat of flood-related diseases like cholera and hepatitis, an emergency has been declared in hospitals across Punjab. However, displaced residents in some areas have complained of shortages of boats and inadequate arrangements for moving livestock. Farmers in Sialkot and Pakpattan said they had lost entire harvests of rice and sugarcane.
It may be added here that more than 840 people have been killed in various flood-related incidents across the country since late June, while also causing widespread damage to infrastructure and properties. The extent of damage to crops, infrastructure, livestock, homes and other assets is yet to be fully assessed. But initial estimates suggest the losses are in tens of billions of rupees.
The widespread damage to life and property caused by the floods exposes the authorities’ lack of preparedness, despite repeated prior warnings of unusually heavy rains and excess water discharges in the rivers Ravi and Sutlej from India. No doubt, this year’s rains have been unusually heavy, a result of climate change, but the crisis has been worsened by our failure to adopt pre-emptive measures in time.
Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the climate crisis, but appropriate policy measures have not been forthcoming. The current floods have laid bare glaring deficiencies in the country’s governance infrastructure, which remains woefully inadequate to cope with increasingly erratic monsoon rains. For years, we have gone on with unplanned urbanisation, as natural waterways and floodplains have been taken over by housing schemes and commercial projects, obstructing the natural flow of river and rain water. On the other hand, unchecked deforestation has worsened downstream flooding, triggering landslides in mountainous areas. It is time we learned from the recent flood disaster and planned for the future by adopting better river management strategies and setting up climate-resistant infrastructure to deal with any future crisis.