KEY POINTS
- India’s water release into Sutlej River raises flood threat in Punjab and Sindh
- 120+ health facilities damaged, disease risk intensifies nationwide
- Nearly two million displaced in Punjab; large-scale evacuations ongoing
- Flash floods kill hundreds in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Karachi faces urban flooding challenges
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday declared a Climate and Agriculture Emergency across the country, warning that the South Asian nation faces one of its gravest monsoon calamities in recent years.
Chairing a cabinet meeting in Islamabad, the premier directed ministries and provincial governments to accelerate relief efforts, conduct urgent assessments of crop losses, and prepare economic rehabilitation plans.
PM Sharif also ordered enhanced search operations in Karachi’s Gadap area, where flash floods swept away families earlier this week, and has instructed Rescue 1122, the Army, and Rangers to reinforce operations in affected districts nationwide.
India releases more water
The declaration came as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) confirmed India had released water into the Sutlej River, raising fresh alarms for downstream Punjab and Sindh.
While Punjab’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said the monsoon had weakened and no major surge was expected in the next three days, southern districts, including Multan and Muzaffargarh, remain under high alert.
In Karachi, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah toured flood-hit Saadi Town in Karachi, ordering immediate drainage measures and emergency repairs to prevent waterlogging from worsening.
It has been raining in Karachi throughout the last night, inundating most of the metropolis and forcing the CM to reach out to affected people. Across Sindh, pre-emptive evacuations are underway as authorities brace for rising waters from Punjab.
Humanitarian fallout amid floods
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where flash floods have claimed at least 428 lives and injured more than a thousand people, authorities are distributing financial aid and relocating survivors.
Yet the damage to homes and businesses has left thousands vulnerable, with local administrations struggling to restore essential services.
Nationwide, the humanitarian fallout is intensifying. More than 120 health facilities have been damaged or rendered inoperable, raising fears of waterborne disease outbreaks, including cholera and malaria.
Aid agencies have warned that without swift medical support, the disaster could tip into a public health emergency.
Punjab continues to face the heaviest toll. The province is experiencing what officials describe as the worst floods in its history, with nearly two million people affected.
According to estimates, 1.8 million people have been displaced, and over 3,900 villages submerged.
Entire communities in Muzaffargarh and Multan have been evacuated, with residents relying on temporary shelters and relief rations.
Rescue operations
Rescue and evacuation operations are underway on a massive scale. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has been overseeing operations using boats, helicopters, and drones to ferry people to safety. In Jalalpur Pirwala alone, more than 25,000 people were evacuated this week.
Sindh, too, remains under pressure. More than 00,000 people have already been evacuated from vulnerable low-lying areas along the Indus River.
With further inflows expected, provincial authorities have appealed for reinforcements of tents, food packages, and medicines.
For the government, the declaration of an emergency underscores the dual crisis at hand: mitigating immediate human suffering while safeguarding the agricultural economy from devastating losses.
Analysts warn that the destruction of standing crops could intensify food insecurity and weigh heavily on an economy already struggling with inflation and slow growth.
With rivers still swollen, rescue operations ongoing, and disease risks rising, Pakistan’s flood emergency remains far from over.
The prime minister’s announcement signals a national mobilisation — but the scale of displacement and damage suggests recovery will be a long and arduous process.
