Pakistan warns fresh rains may cause Punjab rivers to swell as monsoon toll crosses 1,000
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warned on Thursday that widespread rains in several districts of the eastern Punjab province, already reeling from catastrophic floods, may cause river levels to rise to dangerous levels again as the nationwide death toll since Jun. 26 surged to 1,006.
The warning from the NDMA comes as the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said that water levels in Punjab’s rivers are returning to “normal,” as floods flow downstream into the southern Sindh province.
Heavy rains and excess water released from Indian dams have caused three major rivers — the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej — in the eastern Punjab province to swell late last month, inundating more than 4,700 villages in the country’s agricultural heartland, destroying crops and homes and forcing millions to flee. Over 110 people were killed while at least 300,000 people across Pakistan remain in tents, according to official figures. Over 2,000 relief camps are reported operational nationwide, with rescue operations continuing in Punjab and Sindh in coordination with the Pakistan Army and Navy.
