Pakistan’s Punjab faces biggest floods in its history, affecting 2 million people
Lahore, Pakistan – Pakistan’s province of Punjab Eastern Pakistan faces the largest flood in its history, said a senior official on Sunday, while rivers’ water levels reach heights of all time.
Global warming has worsened monsoon rains this year in Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. The showers and cloud explosions have sparked sudden floods and landslides across the north and northwest mountainous in recent months.
Residents of eastern Punjab also experienced abnormal quantities of rain, as well as cross -border floods after India has released the water from the swollen rivers and overflowing dams in the low regions of Pakistan.
The Superior Minister of the province, Maryam Aurangzeb, said on Sunday at a press conference: “It is the largest flood in the history of Punjab. The flood affected two million people. This is the first time that the three rivers – Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi – have such high water levels. ”
Local authorities use educational establishments, police and security facilities such as rescue camps and evacuating people, including by boat, she said.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs collects data concerning the deliberate release of India water in Pakistan,” added to therangzeb. There was no immediate comment from India.
India alerted its neighbor to the possibility of cross -border floods last week, the first public diplomatic contact between the two countries since a crisis brought them closer to the war in May.
Punjab, which houses some 150 million people, is an essential element in the country’s agricultural sector and is the main producer of wheat in Pakistan. The ferocious floods in 2022 destroyed the huge expanses of cultures to the east and south of the country, which led Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to warn that his country was facing food shortages.
Figures from the National Pakistan Weather Center show that Punjab received 26.5% more rain from July 1 and August 27 compared to the same period last year.
The country’s disaster management authority said 849 people had been killed and 1,130 injured nationally in rain -related incidents since June 26.
The Pakistan monsoon season generally takes place at the end of September.
