ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warned on Thursday that the last spell of monsoon rains is expected to continue for the next two to three days amid high water levels at Guddu Barrage in Sindh, as swollen rivers from Punjab move south.

Punjab, home to more than half of Pakistan’s 240 million people and its main farming belt, has been devastated since late August when record monsoon rains swelled the Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers simultaneously in a historic first. Punjab officials say 79 people have died and nearly two million acres of farmland submerged in the province’s worst flooding in four decades.

Pakistani authorities had cautioned that the last spell of monsoon rains is expected to last in the country till Sept. 10. The Punjab disaster authority said the Chenab River was still carrying heavy volumes on Thursday afternoon, with more than 150,000 cubic feet per second flowing through Trimmu, one of its major control points, and above 90,000 at Qadirabad further downstream.

The Sutlej River was also running high, pushing over 120,000 cubic feet per second through its headworks at Sulemanki and Islam, while the Ravi had stabilized at lower levels. Officials said the overall pattern showed that enormous volumes of water were continuing to drain southward from Punjab into the Indus.

“We have arrived at the last days and at the last spell of monsoon 2025,” NDMA Chairman Gen. Inam Haider Malik said during a televised media briefing.

“And in the next two to three days, we believe this last spell of rains, which in the last two days has shifted from Sindh to Balochistan and coastal areas, is slowly now losing steam,” he added.

Malik noted that the water level was flowing from the rivers Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej in layers to the Guddu Barrage in Sindh and at Panjnad, the confluence of the five rivers in southern Punjab.

Guddu is one of the two main barrages that channel Indus waters into central and southern Sindh, protecting densely populated areas further downstream.

The NDMA chairman said rescue operations were continuing across the country, adding that 2.4 million people in Punjab have been shifted from dangerous to safe locations.

He said over 5,000 villages in Punjab that have been inundated will take time to recover. He said it will take around three to four weeks for the water in these areas to dry, after which they will become accessible. In Sindh, Malik said 150,000 people have been relocated to safer places.

Earlier, the Flood Forecasting Division said River Indus at Guddu barrage is expected to attain very high flood level during the next 48 hours, adding that River Indus at Sukur is expected to attain a high flood level after 48 hours.

By Thursday afternoon, Guddu Barrage itself was carrying more than 505,000 cusecs, with gauges upstream at Chachran showing levels steady at nearly 298 feet, officials said.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said in a statement Sukkur Barrage had safely handled over 1.1 million cusecs of water in recent days. He said reinforcement works were under way at 45 vulnerable points across the province.

SOUTHERN PUNJAB

Meanwhile, rescue operations remain focused in southern Punjab’s Jalalpur Pirwala, a tehsil near the city of Multan where the Chenab and Sutlej converge and floodwaters have inundated entire villages.

“With the help of the Pakistan Army, relief goods are being delivered to the affected areas,” said PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia.

He said 706,000 people had been affected in Jalalpur Pirwala, 362,000 moved to safer places and more than 311,000 livestock relocated.

“Rescue operations will continue until all victims are moved to safe places,” he added.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari said 3,628 people had been evacuated from Multan in the past three days, and that water levels at key headworks, including Muhammad Wala and Sher Shah Bridge, were “no longer critical.”

Punjab Relief Commissioner Nabil Javed said more than 4.3 million people across the province had been affected and 2.26 million moved to safe places.

He said 396 relief camps, 490 medical camps and 412 veterinary camps were operating, and 1.7 million animals had been relocated.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department forecast no significant rain until at least Sept. 15, giving flooded areas in Punjab time to drain.

But officials have cautioned that swollen rivers would continue pushing south into Sindh for days, requiring close monitoring of dykes and barrages.

Nationwide, nearly 1,000 people have been killed in Pakistan since the monsoon season began on June 26.