By Areej Riaz The devastating floods of 2022, and now the ongoing 2025 floods, are not isolated events. They are a recurring reality of our changing climate — one that Pakistan cannot afford to keep confronting with only emergency relief and reconstruction. Each disaster displaces millions, wipes out livelihoods, destroys infrastructure, and sets back development by years. But what if …
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz launched on Monday a flood rehabilitation drive, under which she said around Rs100 billion would be distributed among the affected people. “We are distributing the first cheques today”, she said while addressing the attendees at a camp set up in Dipalpur, Okara to begin the distribution of relief cards among the families and individuals …
ISLAMABAD: The feud between the PPP and the PML-N took another turn on Tuesday as the former staged a walkout of the National Assembly over remarks made by the latter’s leader and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz a day earlier. The war of words, which began over flood compensation through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), had expanded to water …
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that flood damages in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will affect upcoming Rabi cultivation, as the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority directed survey teams to prioritise public complaints while assessing losses in affected areas. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted rain, wind, and thundershowers in south-eastern Sindh till October 2, with …
HYDERABAD/DADU/ LAHORE: Kotri Barrage passed the peak of its medium flood on Saturday but remained in a medium-flood state through Sunday evening. On Saturday morning, Kotri recorded 421,075 cusecs upstream and 393,560 cusecs downstream, easing to 412,965 and 386,650 cusecs by noon. On Sunday, upstream flows were 387,808 cusecs with 362,253 cusecs downstream; some 25,555 cusecs were drawn for the …
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: As the Punjab government on Saturday launched a survey to assess the losses caused by recent floods, the PPP urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to accept its demand for providing immediate relief to the flood-affected people through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The PML-N and the PPP — coalition partners at the Centre and in Punjab — have …
ISLAMABAD: As millions of people have been affected and hundreds of casualties reported across the country during the recent floods and monsoon rains , the prime minister has raised the ex-gratia assistance for the next of kin of those who lost their lives from Rs1 million to Rs2m. More than 4.2 million people in 18 districts of Punjab have been …
KARACHI: PPP’s Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, the first lady and a member of the National Assembly, on Wednesday asserted that the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was the “most effective way” to distribute aid to flood-affected people, adding that it would be “irresponsible to not utilise it”. Her statement comes a day after Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said that the provincial …
LAHORE: The residents in different localities of Multan, Lodhran, and Bahawalpur districts remain homeless as the government has failed to plug the breaches at the Noraja Bhutta embankment along the Sutlej River despite the passage of 12 days. Communities in Noraja Bhutta, Bahadurpur, Basti Lang, Kanu, and Dipal in Jalalpur Pirwala; Tarut Basharat, Daily Rajanpur, and Belaywala in Lodhran; Dunyapur, …
LARKANA: Floods always cause damage to dykes and, therefore, a 24-hour struggle is underway to avoid devastation. This was stated by MPA Mir Nadir Magsi, who is considered to be an expert in flood-fighting and has been assigned to oversee strengthening of different dykes within the Indus course across Northern Dadu Division. “At this moment, flows from [Guddu and Sukkur …