ISLAMABAD: Nearly 150 people in Pakistan have died and hundreds have been injured since late June due to heavy monsoon rains this season, disaster management authorities said on Wednesday.
The monsoon season brings South Asia up to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, arriving in early June in India and late June in Pakistan, and lasting through until September.
The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. But they also bring with them flooding and landslides and cause buildings to collapse.
“Due to this year’s monsoon rains, 77 citizens have died and 214 have been injured,” a spokesperson for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, said in a statement.
In the past 24 hours alone, 27 people had died and 46 more injured across the province, the statement added.
On Monday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had warned of another wet spell in the country from July 15 till July 17 and said the death toll from monsoon rains and floods had reached 111 since June 26. With the fresh deaths in Punjab over the last 24 hours, that figure is nearing 150.
“Most deaths have been recorded due to roofs collapsing in dilapidated buildings and old houses,” DG PDMA said, urging citizens to avoid staying in old mud homes and to take extra precautions.
“Citizens are requested to take precautionary measures in view of the rainy season … Citizens are urged not to stay in old mud houses under any circumstances.”
On the instructions of Punjab’s chief minister, the injured are being provided “the best possible medical aid” and families of those killed will receive financial assistance under the provincial government’s policy, the agency added.
Children should be kept away from electric wires, poles, and low-lying flooded areas to prevent further casualties, the PDMA said.
“By adopting precautionary measures, loss of life and property can be avoided.”
Pakistan, despite contributing less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, is among the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
In 2022, unprecedented monsoon flooding submerged a third of the country, affecting over 33 million people and inflicting more than $30 billion in losses, according to government estimates.
