ISLAMABAD: At least three million people have been affected by floods across Pakistan and 300,000 remain in tents, according to figures shared at a Senate briefing on Wednesday, underscoring the scale of devastation caused by this year’s monsoon season.

Heavy rains and excess water released from Indian dams caused rivers in Punjab province to swell late last month, inundating more than 4,700 villages in the country’s agricultural heartland, destroying crops and homes and forcing millions to flee.

Since the onset of the monsoon season on June 26, Punjab has reported 296 deaths out of a nationwide toll of 998, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Other casualties include 504 deaths in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 80 in Sindh, 41 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 38 in Azad Kashmir, 30 in Balochistan and nine in Islamabad.

At a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change, chaired by Senator Sherry Rehman, a former climate minister, participants were told that three million people have been affected by the floods and 300,000 remain in tents.

Rehman urged the government to speed up cash assistance for flood victims through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Pakistan’s main social safety net.

“The government should immediately transfer BISP assistance to flood-affected areas, any delay in this regard is unacceptable,” she said.

“Pakistan should appeal to the United Nations for assistance instead of a mini-budget.”

Rehman also called for transparency in aid distribution and improvements in camp conditions.

“The government should ensure transparency in distribution of relief among flood victims,” she said. “Relief camps should be improved to meet humanitarian standards.”

According to the statement, which cited figures from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), more than 2,000 relief camps were reported operational nationwide, with rescue operations continuing in Punjab and Sindh in coordination with the Pakistan Army and Navy.

Punjab alone had around 2.9 million people affected by floods, the Senate briefing was told.

Rehman linked the current disaster to climate change, noting that Pakistan has joined the top five countries most affected by global warming.

Meanwhile, in its daily situation report, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Punjab said the flow of water in most of the province’s rivers had returned to normal.

“The Indus, Jhelum and Ravi rivers are at normal levels,” the PDMA said, adding the Chenab had normalized at Marala, Khanki, Qadirabad and Trimmu, with only medium flooding in the Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala and low flooding at Sulemanki and Islam headworks.

The PDMA said Panjnad currently carried 194,000 cusecs of water with a low-level flood, while torrents in Dera Ghazi Khan had also normalized.

The authority warned, however, that the monsoon’s 11th spell would persist until Sept. 19, with rain expected in Rawalpindi, Murree, Galiyat and other northern districts.

Flash floods could occur in streams around Rawalpindi, Murree and Galiyat on Sept. 18 and 19.