WAZIRABAD, Pakistan: Farmers in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province said Friday they had lost everything in sudden floods, from fields of rice and corn to the livestock they depended on, leaving them in despair and with no clear path ahead.
The floods began Monday when heavy rains triggered sudden water releases from Indian dams on the Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi rivers, making it the worst deluge for the region in about four decades. Nearly 300,000 people have since been evacuated, more than one million have been affected and at least 20 people have died in Punjab this week, according to officials statistics.
“Suddenly, so much water came with a great speed that we have never seen in our lives,” Asadullah Rizwan, a farmer in Wazirabad city, told Arab News. “We got the warning late, and our livestock was swept away. Everyone lost 10, 15, 20 animals.”
Rizwan said his entire year’s harvest had been destroyed.
“I cultivated rice on 117 acres and corn on 20 acres, but it’s all finished,” he said. “This is Allah’s will regarding what will happen.”
