LAHORE: An extremely high flood level of 684,293 cusecs was recorded at the Panjnad in the Chenab River at 3pm, the Flood Forecasting Division wrote on X.
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman has emphasised the urgent need for coordinated national and international action, warning that Pakistan is on the brink of a “national food and humanitarian emergency” as climate-induced floods ravage farmland and displace millions.
In a resolution tabled in the Senate, she said the counrty is witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe unfold before our eyes. “Over 1,000 lives have been lost, nearly four million people displaced, and 5.8 million affected,“ the party’s parliamentary leader in the House noted.
She urged the federal government to no longer delay the immediate cash transfers to displaced families and farmers through the Benazir Income Support Programme.
The senator stressed the crucial importance of providing immediate humanitarian relief, including the waiver of electricity bills to millions of vulnerable people now living on the frontlines of fragility.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appreciated the efforts of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz in tackling the flood crisis in the province.
In a post on X, PM Shehbaz said, “Leading from the front! commendable efforts by Chief Minister Punjab in flood relief operations, joined by the tireless dedication of leadership in KP, Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan & AJK.”
The United Kingdom has pledged over $4 million to Pakistan in emergency and relief response due to the ongoing floods in the country, the Foreign Office says.
The FO, in a statement on X, said that the UK High Commissioner Jane Marriott, in a meeting with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar today, expressed “full solidarity with Pakistan in responding to the devastating impacts of the floods and ongoing monsoon season.”
Pledging $4m (£3m) to Pakistan for flood emergency response, Marriott said that more humanitarian support will follow.
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has postponed the upcoming medical entrance exam due to ongoing floods in the country.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Health, after holding discussions with relevant representatives from all four provinces, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, PMDC has revised the exam date to October 26 (Sunday).
The decision was taken in light of the “difficulties faced by students in the affected areas,” the statement read.
The exam was previously scheduled to be held on October 5.
Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has remained active in the field for the third consecutive day to supervise flood relief operations in Shujaabad, according to a statement from Iram Saleemi, a spokesperson for the Multan commmissioner.
Upon receiving information about an embankment breach in the area, the senior minister arrived, accompanied by provincial ministers Khawaja Salman Rafique, Kazim Ali Pirzada and Rana Sikandar Hayat.
“Marriyum Aurangzeb supervised the relief operations due to the breach [and] also received a briefing on the Gardezpur drain and reviewed the flood situation,” the statement read.
“The administration is carrying out an operation to fill the breach in Dhondo village,” Marriyum was quoted as saying. “The adjacent settlements are being evacuated. Residents were shifted from the flooded areas of Jalalpur Pirwala in record time.”
The provincial ministers said that as soon as the floodwater recedes, the Punjab government will take steps to compensate the losses of all victims.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast that there will be a fresh westerly wave and rain from September 16-19, which is expected to affect the upper catchments of all major rivers.
However, the notice added that no major weather system is expected during the week.
“[The] Indus River at Guddu may [reach] very high flood level during September 14-15,” the PMD warned.
The Ministry of Water Resources has said that Tarbela Dam has been at 100 per cent capacity since August 27.
According to a statement, Mangla Dam is 93pc full, with only six feet of capacity available.
“There is an exceptionally high flood at Panjnad Barrage on the Chenab River,” the statement read, quoting the Federal Flood Commission. “There is a moderate flood at Guddu Barrage on the Indus River … a very high flood has been forecast at Guddu Barrage in the next 48 hours.”
The statement added that there is a high flood at Sidhnai on the Ravi River, with a moderate flood at the Sulemanki and Islam Headworks on the Sutlej River.
A high flood level of 679,290 cusecs was recorded at the Panjnad in the Chenab River at 9am, the Pakistan Meteorological Department wrote on X.
President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed “deep sympathy and heartfelt solidarity” with the flood-affected people of South Punjab.
A press release from the President’s Secretariat highlighted the hardships faced by thousands of people and stated, “He (Zardari) assured the nation that the government stands resolutely beside the flood-affected communities during this critical time.”
The statement quoted President Zardari as saying, “Rescue, relief, and rehabilitation operations are diligently underway in close coordination with the provincial authorities, the armed forces, and humanitarian organisations to provide essential assistance to those in need.”
Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has assured “complete protection” to flood victims during a visit to affected areas, according to a post on X.
Lack of clean drinking water and regular food supplies in some heavily-flooded rural settlements is a major problem facing the affected people.
The river Ravi flooded hundreds of villages in Tandlianwala tehsil of Faisalabad, Kamalia and Pirmahal tehsils of Toba Tek Singh district, Shorkot and Ahmadpur Sial tehsils of Jhang district and Abdul Hakim, Kabirwala and Mian Channu tehsils of Khanewal.
Locals say this scale of devastation had never been experienced even in two extraordinary floods in the river Ravi back in 1992 and 2014.
The PPP has called on the state to disburse support to the flood victims using Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in light of recent devastation caused by floods in the country.
In a resolution passed by the party in the senate today, the PPP said that it “urges the federal government to no longer delay the immediate cash transfers to displaced families and farmers through BISP.”
PPP said that the current situation merits “an immediate coordinated national and international response.” The resolution called for “immediate humanitarian relief, including the waiver of electricity bills to millions of vulnerable people.”
“Delay in asking for international assistance and disbursing support via BISP is inexplicable,” it added.
With anxiety and anguish writ large on her face, Yasmin Bibi, a 60-year-old widow, sits along with her family outside a relief camp near Chuhng on Multan Road.
She [perhaps] is contemplating a daunting future after floods ravaged their home in the illegally developed Theme Park housing scheme. Her 35-year-old daughter, Shabana, watches as her own children insist on having their clothes and toys back they used to play with at their house which has been surrounded by the flood water like many others in the scheme since August 28.
“She starts weeping when someone talks about the floodwater that ruined her and the other kids’ clothes and toys,” says Shabana. “We never thought we would face such a terrible situation.”
An evacuation operation was launched to relocate citizens, following an 80-foot-wide crack in the Chenab River safety dam near Shujabad.
The district administration was carrying out efforts to fill the dam breach, while the officials appealed to citizens to immediately vacate adjacent areas.
The breach will directly affect Mitho, Mahde, Dhondu, Soman, Bengala and Nai Basti.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has demanded the federal government to immediately initiate an international appeal for assistance for flood victims.
In a post on X, he criticised the “delay” in initiating this process, which was “beyond comprehension”. He noted, “This is standard practice for disasters of this scale internationally. It was done for the last floods when I was foreign minister, before that the 2010 floods and the 2005 earthquake. Countries all over the world do the same within the first 72 hours of such disasters.”
“There is no excuse to cut of the millions affected from this assistance.”
Bilawal welcomed the government’s decision to announce a climate and agricultural emergency and called for the announcement of relief through the Benazir Income Support Program for flood-impacted areas.
He also highlighted his visits to flood-impacted areas of central Punjab, South Punjab and Sindh and expressed support for the agricultural community, calling it the “most devastated sector”.
Punjab is facing a relentless flood emergency as the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab rivers continue to swell, inundating thousands of villages and displacing millions across the province.
The situation intensified after Indian authorities issued alerts regarding rising water levels at Ganda Singh Wala and Ferozepur two days ago, prompting renewed evacuations along the Sutlej River.
Despite some areas witnessing a slight recession in water levels, the overall flood threat remains severe, with rescue and relief operations stretched across multiple districts.
At Panjnad Headworks on the Chenab River, water discharge surged to an exceptionally high level, crossing 668,000 cusecs. Between Wednesday morning and early Thursday, the flow increased by 100,000 cusecs, triggering mass evacuations in Alipur tehsil.
NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik said that currently, 150,000 people have been relocated to safe zones.
“This number may rise over the coming days,” he said. “The [Sindh] PDMA, Rescue 1122 and the Sindh government are working according to our instructions.
“These are the early warnings we shared some weeks ago with the relevant authorities and both provincial governments,” he added. “For the nation, this is an early warning: that these events will become far more intense with time, like the hill torrents in the northern areas.”
The NDMA chief said that preparations will be made with recommendations from the relevant authorities through a national dialogue process.
“Pakistan will ready itself on the basis of adaptive resilience,” he stated.
Continuing the briefing, the NDMA chairman stated that 2.4 million people have been evacuated from Punjab and relocated to safe zones.
“Once the water recedes, we will start rehabilitation work on over 5,000 villages and fields,” Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik said. “It will take some time, around four to five weeks, for the water to dry. Once roads, communications and infrastructure are improved, the rehabilitation work will start.”
The NDMA chief said that the provincial government, NGOs, military formations and volunteers played their role and assisted the government greatly during flood relief operations.
NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik said that Pakistan is facing the final monsoon spell of this season and added that during the past two days, the floodwater heading south was “losing steam”.
“The water in our rivers came in two layers,” he explained. “The first is hitting Guddu Barrage, the other is at Panjnad. Based on this information, we expect that it will stabilise in the next two to three days.”
The NDMA chief noted that the prime minister and chief of army staff are properly documenting the losses of lives, homes, livestock and livelihoods since August 25.
“All military formations and responders are part of the national response,” Lt Gen Malik said. “The unusual flow in the Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi Rivers, which we saw at the start of these floods, have now stabilised.
“However, we have seen very stressful flow over the past three to four days, due to which hydraulic structures and embankments have been strengthened,” he added.
Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik said that the monsoon will end in the coming days.
“We will, God willing, manage the floodwater flowing,” he said. “Within a month, we will present our next plan.”
He said that approximately 932 people had died in the floods.
Continuing the briefing, Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik said that all of the information about the floodwater gave the authorities a “head start” to evacuate up to 2.5 million people and relocate them to safe zones.
“It takes time for water to reach Sindh, but since August 25 till today, there have been constant reports about how much floodwater there is,” the minister said. “We will do whatever we can to protect our people and children. God forbid there is destruction, but if there’s a disaster in Pakistan, we will not compromise.
“We are all standing together; we have stood with the Punjab government, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. We are one voice, one soul and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sindh.”
