Several hundred villages in Punjab were submerged due to the overflow of the Sutlej River, and thousands of hectares of agricultural land, especially plantations, were destroyed.
– We rescued 100,000 people and transported them to safer places, Faruk Ahmad , spokesman for the emergency services of Punjab, told AFP on Wednesday .
After torrential monsoon rains caused flooding, Indian authorities on Sunday released nearly 85,000 cubic meters of excess water per second into their reservoirs, said Mohsin Naqvi , the head of the Punjab government, resulting in flooding downstream on the Pakistani side.
The embankments that were supposed to protect the dwellings did not last and it is no longer possible to reach hundreds of villages by road.
Relief operations continue in flooded areas with emergency services using boats to ferry women, children, men and livestock to safety.
Residents warn that all their harvests have been destroyed, and now the main problem is how to save the cattle, one of the volunteers at the camp for the reception of the injured Dr. told AFP. Muhamad Amin .
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority warns that in the coming days the floods could become even more dangerous, given that new monsoon rains are expected in the region.
At least 175 people have died in Pakistan since the end of June in floods, collapsed buildings, as a result of landslides and other accidents caused by monsoon rains.
Pakistan is still trying to recover from the devastating floods that affected almost a third of the country’s territory in 2022, affecting more than 33 million people and killing more than 1,700.