ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s Punjab province has promised the “biggest” rehabilitation package of its history for more than 2.6 million people, who have been uprooted by one of the deadliest floods in the province.
Monsoon rains and India’s release of excess water flooded three transboundary rivers, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej, in Pakistan’s breadbasket Punjab province in late August, submerging more than 4,700 villages and affecting over 4.7 million people, according to Punjab Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javed.
The deluges killed more than 300 people and forced authorities to relocate more than 2.6 million people to safety after their homes were washed away by water torrents. Rescuers also transported over 2 million livestock stranded in 28 districts to relief camps established by the government.
Provincial officials have said that floodwaters that surged through major rivers in late August and submerged crops over more than 2.5 million acres of land were now receding, announcing that they have initiated the process of rehabilitation of the affected areas.
“Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz is bringing the biggest rehabilitation package in the history of Punjab,” Muhammad Jawad Haider, additional director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), said in a statement.
