LAHORE/KASUR/MULTAN:
Punjab, the country’s breadbasket, continued to reel from one of the worst floods in decades on Friday, with three of its major rivers in “super flood” stage and authorities forced to blow up part of the Sutlej riverbank to save Kasur from being swallowed by the rising waters.
At least 28 people have already lost their lives, most of them in Gujranwala division, battered by flash floods and urban inundation.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) confirmed that water levels in the upper reaches of Ravi and Chenab rivers have begun to recede. However, downstream flows remain a rising tide.
Meanwhile, River Sutlej has swelled to its highest level since 1955, prompting officials to deliberately breach the RRA-1 embankment to protect Kasur city.
“Increased water flow from India means that water in Sutlej is rushing towards Kasur,” a PDMA official said and added, “We are forced to breach the Rahimyar embankment in order to save Kasur.”
The PDMA also cautioned of a looming threat in Okara and Sahiwal, warning that Ravi’s rising surge could inundate Sadani within 36 hours. “When the water level is high at Balloki, problems will arise on the drain dyke,” the authority warned.
On Friday, flood waters hit the outskirts of the country’s second biggest city, Lahore, and threatened to submerge the major town of Jhang, in the worst flooding in almost 40 years in that part of the country.
More rains feared
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) forecast fresh rounds of widespread rain, wind and thunderstorms on Saturday (today) across multiple regions.
Flash floods, urban flooding and landslides are feared in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Islamabad and the Potohar region, while northeastern Balochistan, southeastern Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan may also be lashed by evening downpours.
The PMD warned that heavy rains could trigger floods in streams and nullahs across northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galliyat, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and northeast Punjab, while low-lying areas in cities like Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot risk urban flooding.
Landslides and mudslides may also block roads in hilly tracts of K-P and Kashmir.
Over 1.4m people hit
The ongoing devastating floods have affected 1.45 million people across 1,769 villages in Punjab, official figures revealed on Friday.
According to the PDMA, the Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers are in the grip of a super flood and have inundated vast swathes of land.
In response, 365 relief camps have been established in flood-hit districts to shelter the displaced population.
Authorities said that rescue operations have so far evacuated 429,177 people, while more than 300,000 cattle have also been moved to safer ground.
Floodwaters across Punjab’s major rivers have reached some of their highest levels in decades, with authorities confirming that the Ravi River’s flow at Lahore’s Shahdara point swelled to 220,000 cusecs — the largest surge since 1988.
While water levels remain dangerously high in parts of the Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab, officials say flows at most major headworks are currently steady and under control.
A headwork is a civil engineering structure — such as a weir or barrage — built across a river to divert water into a canal or other waterway for irrigation or other purposes
According to the Punjab Irrigation Department, the Ravi at Jassar is flowing at 85,980 cusecs, while Shahdara recorded 201,400 cusecs with levels now gradually falling.
At the Ravi siphon, the flow stands at 202,428 cusecs, showing a downward trend.
Conversely, water levels are rising at Balloki headworks, where the flow has reached 151,560 cusecs, while Sidhnai headworks remain stable at 25,478 cusecs.
On the Sutlej, flows remain heavy as Ganda Singh Wala recorded 261,053 cusecs, Sulemanki 113,124 cusecs, and Islam headworks 60,814 cusecs — all stable but under close watch.
In the Chenab, Marala reported a discharge of 116,440 cusecs, Khanki 188,100 cusecs, and Qadirabad 217,375 cusecs, with flows described as steady. However, at Chiniot bridge, the river carried an extraordinary 842,500 cusecs, while Trimmu headworks registered 129,372 cusecs.
Lahore’s Shahdara hit hard
PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia confirmed that the massive surge through Lahore’s Shahdara was the highest since 1988, though the city reported no loss of life.
He noted that floodwaters entered nine sites in Lahore, but timely rescue operations prevented casualties.
More than 147,000 cusecs are currently passing through Balloki, with downstream flows expected to merge into the Ravi.
Kathia said India continues to release around 80,000 cusecs from the Madhopur headworks, water that will travel through Shahdara, Chiniot and onward to Rewas Bridge — now described as the government’s “biggest concern”.
He added that officials are considering breaching protective embankments near Rewas to safeguard Jhang. Downstream, floodwaters are expected to reach Trimmu, Head Muhammadwala and eventually the Multan river system.
The situation on the Sutlej remains precarious, with flows above 200,000 cusecs sustained for four consecutive days near Kasur, raising alarms at Sulemanki.
In Wazirabad, the receding fetid tide left behind mud, buzzing insects and the threat of disease.
Mother-of-four Nazia Nasir told AFP the army evacuated her family, who found their house collapsed upon their return.
“Everything we owned is lying in ruins,” the 40-year-old said, clearing the mud away with her bare hands.
“My son has nothing to wear, he walks around in just a T-shirt. The crops we relied on for our livelihood are gone.”
Nasima Bibi was not yet able to return to her submerged home, camping on higher ground on the roadside.
“I don’t know what I will find but I have no other place to go. The sun has burnt my skin but I cannot leave,” she said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to convene an emergency meeting with provincial chief ministers and the heads of all relevant institutions on a strategy to deal with climate change and future flooding, the government announced in a post on X.
“A strategy is being formulated for the construction of water reservoirs in all four provinces, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, and for better water management,” the post read, adding that these reservoirs would be built with cooperation from all provinces.
“Climate change is a reality, and only through effective preparation for it can the damage from natural disasters be prevented,” the post read. All four provinces, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the federation must work together to protect people from the adverse effects of climate change.
“This is a national issue on which everyone must work together.”
