ISLAMABAD: Pakistani disaster authorities on Wednesday warned of continuing flood risks across the country as monsoon rains that began in late June have killed more than 1,000 people and affected millions, according to official figures.
Heavy monsoon rains and floods have killed at least 1,006 people and injured more than 1,000 since June 26 when this year’s monsoon season started.
Punjab province, the country’s agricultural heartland and most populous province, has been the worst affected since late August, with more than 4,700 villages submerged and 4.7 million people impacted due to rivers swelling after heavy downpours and India releasing water from its dams. Authorities say they have launched the province’s largest-ever search and rescue operation, moving 2.6 million people and 2.1 million animals to safer ground.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Wednesday rain was expected in the next 24 hours over the upper catchments of the Indus and Kabul rivers as well as parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, even as dry conditions were forecast across most regions until Sept. 29.
The NDMA said Kotri Barrage, a major flood-control structure on the Indus River downstream of Hyderabad, was under pressure.
“At Kotri Barrage in Sindh, a medium-level flood is present with flows of about 400,000 cusecs, and the situation is expected to persist until the end of September,” the authority said.
“At Guddu and Sukkur barrages, water levels are gradually decreasing and flows have returned to normal,” the NDMA added.
Both are major barrages on the Indus River in Sindh province.
The agency also noted declining flows in the Ravi River at Gandasinghwala.
“Low-level floods remain at Sulemanki and Islam barrages,” it added, referring to flood-control structures on the Ravi in Punjab province near the Indian border.
The NDMA urged the public to avoid traveling in high-risk areas, not to attempt to cross flood streams and to wait for official instructions before leaving relief camps.
In the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said it was continuing financial support for displaced families in Bajaur, one of the worst-hit districts.
Registration of 24,640 families has been completed, with 23,232 already receiving Rs50,000 ($180) each. A total of Rs1.67 billion ($6m) was allocated for the program, of which Rs1.45 billion ($5.2m) has been disbursed so far.
PDMA described the process as “transparent, timely and organized” and pledged that “all possible measures for the rehabilitation and assistance of the affected families will continue so that the people facing hardships can be provided maximum relief.”
The warnings come three years after Pakistan endured its deadliest floods in living memory in 2022, when torrential monsoon rains submerged a third of the country, killed more than 1,700 people and displaced some 8 million. The disaster caused an estimated $30 billion in damages and losses, devastating agriculture, transport and housing infrastructure.
Experts say Pakistan remains one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, contributing less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions but repeatedly suffering extreme weather events such as glacial lake outbursts, heatwaves and erratic monsoons.
