ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province carried out an emergency breach on a protective embankment at Qadirabad Barrage on Wednesday as the Chenab River surged to dangerous levels, after the army was deployed overnight and 150,000 people were evacuated to safer areas.
The screengrab taken from a video shows authorities carrying out an emergency breach on a protective embankment at Qadirabad Barrage on August 27, 2025, as the Chenab River surged to dangerous levels. (Photo courtesy: PDMA)
Since June 26, seasonal monsoon rains have killed 802 people across Pakistan, 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.
The latest surge of floodwaters in the Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi rivers has now turned Punjab into the main focus of the emergency, with large swathes of the province inundated. The government has called for the deployment of army units in eight districts — Lahore, Kasur, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Narowal, Okara, Hafizabad and Sargodha — for rescue and relief operations.
“An extremely high flood has been recorded at Qadirabad Headworks on the Chenab River, with water flow measured at 935,000 cusecs,” the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said in a statement.
