Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Rescuers evacuate over 100,000 people from flood-hit areas of Pakistan's Punjab province in 3 weeks

Officials say rescuers have evacuated more than 100,000 people from flood-hit areas of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province in the past three weeks

Via AP news wire
Wednesday 23 August 2023 13:08 BST

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Rescuers have evacuated more than 100,000 people from flood-hit areas of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province in the past three weeks, officials said Wednesday.

The rescue operations were expanded last week when the Sutlej River started overflowing, inundating several districts. Most of the evacuations were reported in the districts of Bahawalpur and Kasur in Punjab province.

Small-scale evacuations began in July after neighboring India diverted water from dams into the Ravi River, which flows from India into Pakistan.

Later rains also flooded the Sutlej River, prompting authorities to evacuate people living nearby.

The national disaster management agency said water levels in the Ravi River are currently normal but will rise further in the Sutlej River this week.

Pakistani authorities are still struggling to overcome the damage caused by massive floods last summer that affected 33 million people and killed 1,739. They caused $30 billion in damage to the country’s economy.

The monsoon season began in July and will continue until September.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in