ISLAMABAD: Heavy overnight rains drenched large parts of Pakistan’s Punjab province on Sunday, prompting fresh flood warnings as authorities reported rising water levels in major rivers following weeks of intense late-monsoon weather.
This year’s monsoon season, stretching from late June through September, has been one of the deadliest in recent years, killing at least 1,006 people nationwide and displacing tens of thousands, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The downpours have damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and large stretches of roads, while washing away livestock and destroying key crops, including cotton, rice and maize, across the country’s agricultural heartland.
Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous and agriculturally vital province, has suffered repeated flooding since August. Relief officials say persistent rains have left soil saturated, embankments weakened and drainage systems clogged, increasing the risk of renewed inundation even from moderate rainfall.
“Rainfall is forecast in most districts of Punjab over the next 24 hours,” the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said in a Sunday bulletin.
“Rising water levels are likely in major rivers due to continuing rainfall,” it warned, citing a potential increase in flows in the Indus and Jhelum rivers, and a possible surge in the Chenab between Oct. 5 and 7.
Flows in the Ravi and Sutlej rivers would depend on releases from Indian reservoirs, the agency said.
“Commissioners, deputy commissioners and other officers are on alert. Citizens are urged to take precautions during bad weather and remain in safe locations,” it said.
The PDMA added that rain could also swell smaller tributaries connected to the major rivers, warning residents in low-lying districts to stay vigilant. Local authorities have been ordered to monitor embankments and pre-position rescue equipment in vulnerable areas.
Pakistan, among the countries most at risk from climate change, has faced consecutive years of extreme weather. Experts say erratic monsoon patterns — alternating between long dry spells and sudden, intense rainfall — underscore the urgent need for climate-resilient infrastructure and improved early-warning systems across the Indus basin.
