By Jerry Williams
SIALKOT, PAKISTAN — Devastating floods have forced over 200,000 people to flee their homes in Pakistan’s Punjab province, as swollen rivers and record rainfall swamp communities and submerge entire towns.
Emergency crews navigated submerged streets by boat, rescuing residents and livestock from rising waters. The Ravi, Sutlej, and Chenab rivers have surged beyond danger levels, prompting disaster officials to issue warnings of “exceptionally high” flood risks.
Pakistan’s military joined rescue operations in multiple districts after India released excess water from upstream dams — an action it warned would trigger flooding in Pakistan’s most populous region.
> “We’re losing our homes, our livestock — everything,” said Nadeem Ahmad, a resident of Kasur, who chose to stay behind with his animals. “We can’t afford to evacuate again.”
In Sialkot, streets disappeared under water as the city saw its heaviest 24-hour rainfall in nearly five decades, according to Pakistan’s meteorological office. Homes, cars, and businesses now lie partially submerged, leaving thousands stranded.
Disaster officials report that more than 32,000 people have been rescued so far. In one village near the Indian border, the BBC rode alongside rescuers evacuating families — including a woman cradling her two-month-old baby — in crowded boats slicing through muddy currents.
Although many fled to shelters or sought refuge with relatives on higher ground, thousands remain, unwilling or unable to abandon their property in a country where over 40% of the population lives below the poverty line.
The National Disaster Management Authority has urged the public to avoid rivers, drainage channels, and low-lying areas as flood levels remain dangerously high.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif promised federal support to provinces, especially in hard-hit urban centres like Gujarat, Sialkot, and Lahore.
The flooding underscores the growing toll of climate-induced disasters in South Asia, where both India and Pakistan have endured weeks of extreme monsoon rains.
Meanwhile, across the border in Indian-administered Kashmir, a landslide near a major Hindu shrine claimed at least 30 lives on Tuesday.
As waters continue to rise, Pakistan braces for further displacement, economic loss, and humanitarian need in what’s shaping up to be one of the worst flood emergencies since 2022.
