Floods ravage Pakistan's Punjab province, leaves 30 dead, thousands displaced

Lahore: At least 30 people died in the last 24 hours as a “historic flood” caused massive devastation in Pakistan's Punjab province, prompting the authorities to deploy explosives and breach embankments to protect cities from floods.

Torrential rains since Saturday morning in major cities of Punjab province added to the misery of the people, especially the flood-affected ones, and the situation is likely to worsen as there is a forecast for heavy downpours till September 2.

Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab has been reeling under severe floods for almost a week and at least 1,700 villages across the province, including the Sikh sacred site of Kartarpur, are inundated.

About 842 people have died in monsoon-related incidents since the start of the monsoon and flooding in the country on June 26, as per the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Punjab's senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement on Saturday that at least 30 people died in the floods in the province in the past 24 hours.

“As many as 1.5 million people are rendered homeless in Punjab by the flood, and around 5,00,000 people trapped in floodwater have been rescued and shifted to safe places over last two-three days,” Aurangzeb said.

Nearly 2,000 villages have been inundated due to flooding, with crops on thousands of acres also damaged, she added further.

The worsening flood situation prompted the authorities to deploy explosives and breach embankments at multiple places in the province to protect cities from floods.

According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), at least seven embankments were breached using explosives in different areas including Mandi Bahauddin, Chiniot and Jhang in the province.

Some 1,169 villages were affected by the Chenab River, 462 by the Ravi, and 391 due to flooding in the Sutlej, as per the minister.

Across the province, she said 351 relief and medical camps are operating to assist and take care of the affected people.

Earlier on Friday, for the first time in nearly 40 years, over two dozen residential areas of Lahore remained submerged due to floodwaters entering the city from the Ravi River.

Multan, another major city of Punjab province, is facing an imminent flood threat. Deputy Commissioner Amir Karim on Saturday afternoon said that a flood surge of up to 8,00,000 cusecs is expected in the Chenab River in the next 24 hours.

The NDMA has issued flood warnings for the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers at various locations, possibly the first time all three rivers are in spate.

According to Punjab's PDMA, the Sutlej river is facing the worst flooding since 1955. The catastrophic inflow is increasing the threat to Kasur, it said.

“It is a historic flood situation”, the PDMA declared, adding that the ninth spell of monsoon rains will continue till September 2.