Pakistan rescuers working hard to deal with worsening floods

Rescue teams in Pakistan are scrambling to evacuate tens of thousands stranded by devastating floods in Punjab province, where many remain without food, clean water, or medical aid.

The government is struggling to cope with the crisis and prevent major cities, including Lahore, from being overwhelmed.

The floods began on Monday after unusually heavy rainfall forced India to release large volumes of water from dams on the Sutlej, Chenab, and Ravi rivers. Officials say it is the worst flooding the region has seen in four decades.

New Delhi had warned Islamabad of possible cross-border flooding last week, and since then nearly 300,000 people have been evacuated, according to Irfan Ali Kathia, head of the Punjab Disaster Management Authority. More than one million people have been affected, and at least 20 have died this week, bringing Pakistan’s nationwide flood death toll since late June to 820.

A Rescue 1122 boat eveacuates people from the flooded area past partially submerged houses, following the monsoon rains and rising water level of the Sutlej River, in Chanda Singh Wala village near the Pakistan-India border in Kasur district of the Punjab province, Pakistan, on Friday. Reuters

On Friday, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Narowal district to oversee rescue operations. Nearly 1,100 relief and medical camps are active across Punjab, with more being set up in inundated areas, Kathia added. To ease pressure on cities, authorities and the military deliberately breached protective embankments along the Chenab River. But the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warns river levels remain dangerously high and fresh rainfall could worsen the situation.

Despite these measures, many residents say government aid has yet to reach them. An Associated Press correspondent described entire villages submerged, with displaced families stranded on roadsides after fleeing with little more than the clothes they wore.

“We are in great misery. Neither the government nor anyone else has come to inquire about us,” said Mohammad Saleem, a farmer in Narowal. University lecturer Rana Hanan said more than 100 homes in his community were destroyed. “When the water came, people saved themselves on their own,” he said.

Members of rescue teams note details from a woman after she was evacuated from a flooded area following rising water level of the Ravi River, on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, on Friday. Reuters

In many areas, residents waited on rooftops for rescue. Those on higher ground reported hunger, diarrhea, and widespread skin infections due to unsafe water. Private charity Sahara Foundation has set up a medical camp in Kartarpur village, where Dr. Bilal Siddiq said at least 50 villages remain submerged. “Fungal and skin infections are everywhere,” he reported. “We’re also seeing diarrhea, gastric pain, and malaria cases rising fast.”

Victims like Haji Amjad, who showed his swollen, infected feet after four days in floodwater, said medical supplies are desperately lacking. Farmers are also struggling as crops and grain stores are destroyed and livestock fall ill without fodder or veterinary care.

Associated Press