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KARACHI: Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon on Saturday said the provincial government was “fully mobilized” to deal with the impact of floods in southern Pakistan, where nearly 1.6 million people and over 1,600 villages are at risk.

The deluge, fueled by record monsoon rains and excess water released from upstream India, has created crisis conditions in the country’s most populous Punjab province since Monday, where the trans-boundary Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers have submerged about 2,300 villages and killed at least 30 people.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) cautioned a day earlier that rising river waters were likely to cause extreme flooding in downstream Sindh, with flood waves of 900,000 to 1.2 million cusecs expected to flow through barrages in Punjab and Sindh in the coming days.

Addressing a news conference in Karachi, Memon said floodwaters were expected to enter the province “on the night of September 2 or 3.”

“A provincial Rain and Flood Emergency Monitoring Cell has been set up to monitor the flood situation, which will remain operational round the clock,” he said.

“At present, 192 rescue boats and mobile health units have been deployed,” he continued. “As many as 1.65 million people, 1,651 villages and 167 union councils could potentially be affected, with an estimated 273,000 families at risk.”

The provincial minister said residents of vulnerable areas were being shifted to safer locations, highlighting that most people have voluntarily evacuated from the riverine areas.

“Three hundred camps have also been set up for livestock,” he added. “Continuous monitoring of water levels is underway.”

Memon noted there was no shortage of funds for flood relief activities, adding that the Punjab government was also providing kits in this regard.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah convened an emergency meeting on Friday after flood forecasts, instructing all relevant departments to stay vigilant.

“In case of a major flood wave, not a single life, human or animal, should be lost,” he told officials, directing the Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to deploy rescue boats, establish over 500 relief camps, and coordinate with the Pakistan Navy, which has 26 boats on standby.

Around 830 people have been killed and 1,121 injured during the monsoon season since June 26, according to official statistics.

Pakistani officials have warned the flood threat could intensify in the coming days, with the current spell expected to last until at least Sept. 10 and potentially rival the 2022 floods, which killed more than 1,700 people and caused over $30 billion in damage.

LAHORE: Pakistan’s Punjab province is facing an unprecedented crisis, with all three of its major rivers — the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej — simultaneously in “super flood” for the first time in recorded history, a top disaster agency official said on Saturday.

The rare convergence of swollen rivers has inundated swathes of the country’s breadbasket province, fed by record monsoon rains and water releases from upstream India. Flood Forecasting Division data shows exceptionally high levels at multiple headworks, while the Pakistan Meteorological Department has warned of further rains in the upper catchments in early September, threatening to intensify the deluge.

“Currently, the situation is very precarious … we have received high flows in all three major rivers,” Punjab PDMA Director-General Irfan Ali Kathia told Arab News in an interview. “Never in the history of Pakistan and Punjab have three major rivers been in super flood at the same time.”

Kathia said flows in the Sutlej on Friday were the highest since 1955, while the Ravi had not carried such volumes since 1988. He described the crisis as “unprecedented,” with floodwaters still surging through central Punjab.

The Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) said exceptionally high flood levels would persist in the Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala, while the Chenab at Trimmu was expected to reach the same threshold within 24 hours. The Ravi at Balloki was also in dangerous flood, with further surges forecast. The FFD warned that the Panjnad would face very high flood by September 3, and the Indus at Guddu by September 5, as monsoon flows continue downstream.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department has predicted more heavy showers over the upper catchments of the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers on September 2–3, which could raise flood levels even further.

Asked about the financial toll of the. flood emergency, Kathia said it was too early to give precise figures while floodwaters were still surging through central Punjab.

“The survey is about to start and I can tell you something with certainty when the survey is done,” he said. “But now we are facing this scenario, so the challenges are numerous.”

IMPACT

Punjab Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javed said on Saturday more than 1.5 million people had been affected and 2,308 villages submerged. Around 481,000 residents were evacuated, and relief operations continue with 511 camps, 351 medical units and 321 veterinary camps in place.

At least 30 people have died in the recent floods in Punjab, while two more were killed by lightning in Lahore, according to PDMA figures. Nationwide, the monsoon season that began in late June has so far killed more than 830 people, including 191 in Punjab, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.

The monsoon season, which began in late June and is expected to last until mid-September, has revived fears of a repeat of Pakistan’s catastrophic 2022 floods, which killed more than 1,700 people, displaced millions and caused losses exceeding $30 billion.