NAROWAL, Pakistan (AP) – Boat rescuers ran on Thursday to arrive at a stranded family in Pakistan’s populous Punjab Three main rivers defeated the bank Due to heavy rain and the release of water from overflowing dams in nearby India.
The floods have displaced nearly 250,000 people, officials said over 1 million people have been affected, crops and businesses have been destroyed, and many people are unable to leave their homes.
Police say at least 15 people died a day ago in Gujranwara district and nearby villages. Forecasters said more rain is expected to fall on Friday after a two-day suspension, and could last until next week.
State Minister Mariyum Aurangzeb said floods will occur in 1,432 villages along the Rabbi, Satrej and Chenabu rivers, affecting around 1.2 million people and driving away 248,000 people.
She said that nearly 700 relief and 265 medical camps have been set up in flood-hit areas, adding that food and other essential supplies are being hit by floods.
Floods have killed more than 800 people in Pakistan since late June.
In the Indian-controlled Jammu region of Kashmir, some of the heaviest rains in August in decades wreaked havoc, causing flash floods and landslides that also clashed with two Hindu pilgrimage routes in the Himalayas.
The house was submerged, roads and bridges were damaged, evacuating thousands of people living in areas flooded with Indian authorities. At least 115 people have been killed and injured.
It is the first time in 38 years that the Rabbi, Satrej and Chenab rivers have simultaneously been flooded. According to the state irrigation department, rescue workers are being forced to step up operations across multiple districts.
Some families said they were still waiting for government help.
“My family on the rooftop of our house had been waiting for the boat to arrive for two days,” said Zainab Bibi, 54. She admitted to ignore the previous government warnings, as she thought the flood would never attack her village, which is located miles (mile) away from the river.
Farmer Mohammad Salem, 47, said the floods across India’s border wiped out his home and belongings before his family could escape their village in Narowaru district. His 38-year-old wife, Kaneez Bibi, said the flood wiped out the dowry she prepared for her eldest daughter’s wedding, which was planned in November.
Pakistan’s Punjab has caused flash floods in low-lying border areas after monsoon rains that were heavier than the monsoon that began earlier this week, releasing water from India’s overflowing dams.
In a statement, Punjab Prime Minister Mariam Nawaz Sharif By saving lives, he granted “timely evacuation.” She said advance preparation and demolition of illegally constructed structures along the waterways helped prevent the massive casualties that officials describe as the state’s worst flood emergency in decades.
“Evacuated people should not receive food and medical assistance in flood hit areas,” she told officials to review the situation during the meeting. “We should do our best to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases among people affected by floods,” she warned.
Pakistan’s Federal Programme Minister Ahsan Iqbal accused India of deliberately freeing excess water from the dam without a timely warning on his visit to the flood-hit city of Narowar. He said New Delhi violated a critical water treaty that was stopped earlier this year after killing 26 tourists in India-controlled Kashmir. India Blaming Pakistan-based extremists for attacksaccusations denied by Islamabad.
Iqbal said, “This huge release of water is in addition to water attacks, India does it and we are seeing the destruction of floods.”
There were no immediate comments from New Delhi.
The Narowal flood was also submerged at a shrine in Guru Nanak near the Indian border, but rescuers quickly evacuated staff and pilgrims.
2022, The catastrophic floods related to climate change have killed nearly 1,700 people in Pakistan.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press author Asim Tanveer contributed to this report by Aijaz Hussain of Srinagar, Pakistan, India, and Aijaz Hussain of Ishfaq Hussain of Muzafarabad, Pakistan.
