ISLAMABAD: At least 30 people have been killed and more than 1.5 million affected as high floods in the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers submerged over 2,300 villages across Pakistan’s breadbasket province of Punjab this week, the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) said on Saturday.
The deluge, driven by record monsoon rains and water releases from upstream India, has inundated swathes of Pakistan’s most populous province, crippling rescue and relief operations and forcing mass evacuations. Officials warn the flood threat would intensify in the coming days as fresh rains lash northeastern Punjab and flows peak at major headworks.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority’s most recent monsoon toll, more than 830 people have died across Pakistan since June 26.
In Lahore, the PDMA confirmed two lightning-related deaths during the latest thunderstorms, while floods elsewhere in Punjab have left 30 people dead.
“Due to severe flooding in rivers Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab, 2,308 villages have been affected,” Punjab Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javed said in a statement released by the PDMA.
