Key points
- Floods wreaked havoc in hundreds of villages
- Swollen rivers burst their banks, submerging vital grain crops
- Latest monsoon downpour has killed at least 13 people
ISLAMABAD: Orange-vested rescue teams rowed through streets transformed into muddy rivers in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Thursday, helping to pluck people and their livestock from flooded villages.
Authorities have evacuated over 1.4 million people from homes in Punjab province this week, officials said on Thursday, as the worst flooding there in four decades caused havoc in hundreds of villages and submerged vital grains crops, according to Reuters.
Pakistan Army troops are actively engaged in rescue and relief operations in flood-affected areas of Punjab@OfficialDGISPR #FloodsInPakistan #floodsinpunjab #FloodRelief https://t.co/bTp5c4py25 pic.twitter.com/wEPTRlDtPF
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) August 29, 2025
Torrential monsoon rain and neighbouring India’s release of excess water from its dams swelled three rivers that flow into the eastern province, forcing authorities to breach river banks in some places – causing flooding in more than 1,400 villages, Punjab’s disaster management authority said.
Punjab is Pakistan’s breadbasket and home to about half of its 255 million people.
Death toll
The latest monsoon downpour has killed at least 13 people, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
More than 1.4 million people living near the rivers have been affected by the floods, with over 265,000 evacuated, said Azma Bukhari, the provincial information minister.
In the city of Wazirabad, the receding fetid tide left behind mud, buzzing insects and the threat of disease.
Mother-of-four Nazia Nasir told AFP the army evacuated her family, who found their house collapsed upon their return.
“Everything we owned is lying in ruins,” the 40-year-old said, clearing the mud away with her bare hands.
“My son has nothing to wear, he walks around in just a T-shirt. The crops we relied on for our livelihood are gone.”
Nasima Bibi was not yet able to return to her submerged home, camping on higher ground on the roadside.
“I don’t know what I will find but I have no other place to go. The sun has burnt my skin but I cannot leave,” she said.
This year, landslides and floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed more than 800 people countrywide since June.
While South Asia’s seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.
Touring the flood-affected areas on Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif emphasised the country’s vulnerability to climate change-fuelled disasters.
Pakistani authorities have said spillover released from dams in neighbouring India increased the flow of water rushing downstream to Punjab.
