ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab said Wednesday it has requisitioned the army for rescue and relief operations in seven districts after major rivers flowing from India swelled with heavy monsoon rains, prompting flood warnings and heightened monitoring for emergencies.
Heavy rains have lashed several parts of Pakistan since August 15, killing 489 people and injuring 348, with the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province recording the highest casualties at 408. Sindh has reported 29 deaths, northern Gilgit Baltistan 26, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 21, Balochistan four and Punjab one, according to official figures.
Since June 26, seasonal rains have killed 802 people and injured 1,088 nationwide, including 479 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 165 in Punjab, 57 in Sindh, 45 in Gilgit Baltistan, 24 in Balochistan and Azad Kashmir, and eight in Islamabad.
Floodwaters in the Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi rivers have now forced authorities to evacuate residents from vulnerable areas of Punjab, the country’s most populous province bordering India.
“The Punjab Home Ministry has written to the federal interior ministry for the deployment of army units in seven districts – Lahore, Kasur, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Narowal, Okara and Sargodha – to support rescue and relief activities,” the provincial administration said in a statement.
