Monsoon woes: 19,000 evacuated as Pakistan's Punjab on high alert for floods

Lahore [Pakistan], August 24 (ANI): Pakistan's Punjab has been put on high alert as over 19,000 people have been evacuated from multiple flood-affected areas of the province ahead of a fresh monsoon spell, Dawn reported on Sunday.

The Punjab government on Saturday evacuated thousands of people along the Sutlej River. Rescue 1122 spokesperson Farooq Ahmad said that over 19,000 people were evacuated from multiple flood-affected areas of the province, as reported by Dawn.

It reported that the epicentre of the crisis remains Sutlej, where authorities were focusing on evacuation efforts. With the new monsoon spell impending, the next 96 hours are critical for Pakistan's Punjab. The rain spell is also expected to bring heavy rain and flash floods to Gilgit-Baltistan -- a region already reeling from successive floods, Dawn reported.

The situation remains dire as survivors in the flood-hit areas faced a shortage of water for drinking and irrigation.

Dawn cited Israruddin Israr, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan GB coordinator, who said that 330 households, comprising over 3,000 individuals, had become internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to the recent glacial lake outburst flood in Talidas village in Ghizer district.

The number of IDPs in this incident is the second-largest since the 2010 Attabad disaster, he said.

UN News reported that the severe weather is forecast to continue into early September, thereby raising the risk of further flooding, landslides and crop losses, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Pakistan has seen monsoon season bring in widespread destruction in recent years. In 2022, unprecedented floods killed more than 1,700 people, displaced millions, and caused an estimated USD 40 billion in economic losses.

Pakistan faces regular monsoon flooding from June to September, often resulting in deadly landslides, infrastructure damage and large-scale displacement, particularly in densely populated or poorly drained regions. (ANI)

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