ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top economic decision-making body has approved the release of Rs3 billion ($10.8 million) in emergency funds for flood-affected families in northern Gilgit-Baltistan, while more than 150,000 people were evacuated from Punjab’s Sutlej and Ravi river belts amid rising waters.
The decision came as the latest spell of monsoon rains continued to devastate much of the country, leaving nearly 800 people dead since late June.
Pakistan has been battered by heavy rains since the start of the monsoon season on June 26. The most devastating spell began on Aug. 15 and has killed at least 485 people since, underscoring the scale of the disaster in one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has reported at least 479 deaths since the monsoons started, followed by Punjab with 165, Sindh 54, Gilgit-Baltistan 45, Balochistan 24, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 23, and the capital Islamabad eight, according to official figures.
“The Economic Coordination Committee approved the release of Rs3 billion for timely provision of tents, medicines, food and other essential supplies for the affected families, as well as for reconstruction of damaged infrastructure and early recovery measures to support the affected communities,” the finance ministry said in a statement after Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a meeting of the ECC.
Separately, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued an advance alert to the provincial disaster agency in Punjab, the PDMA, regarding rising water levels in the Sutlej River and potential floods. The alert prompted large-scale evacuation operations in areas near the Sutlej River.
“As a result of the advance warning and alert issued by NDMA, approximately 150,000 people have so far been moved from flood-prone areas to safe locations,” the NDMA statement said. These included 14,140 people from Kasur, 2,063 from Okara, 89,868 from Bahawalnagar, 361 from Bahawalpur, 165 from Vehari and 873 from Pakpattan.
The Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) also reported rising waters in the Ravi and Sutlej rivers.“There is an extremely high flood at Ganda Singh Wala on the Sutlej River, where the inflow is 195,000 cusecs,” PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia said, adding that Sulemanki on the Sutlej was at medium flood with an inflow of 104,000 cusecs and an outflow of 98,000 cusecs.
“There is a medium-level flood at Jassar with an inflow of 90,000 cusecs and a low-level flood at Shahdara with 40,000 cusecs,” a PDMA spokesperson said, warning that between 60,000 and 70,000 cusecs could pass Shahdara.
“Citizens in riverbeds should immediately move to safe places,” Kathia said, adding that mosque loudspeakers were being used to alert residents and instructing local administrations “to ensure no negligence in protecting lives and property.”
