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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warned on Thursday that widespread rains in several districts of the eastern Punjab province, already reeling from catastrophic floods, may cause river levels to rise to dangerous levels again as the nationwide death toll since Jun. 26 surged to 1,006. 

The warning from the NDMA comes as the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said that water levels in Punjab’s rivers are returning to “normal,” as floods flow downstream into the southern Sindh province. 

Heavy rains and excess water released from Indian dams have caused three major rivers — the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej — in the eastern Punjab province to swell late last month, inundating more than 4,700 villages in the country’s agricultural heartland, destroying crops and homes and forcing millions to flee. Over 110 people were killed while at least 300,000 people across Pakistan remain in tents, according to official figures. Over 2,000 relief camps are reported operational nationwide, with rescue operations continuing in Punjab and Sindh in coordination with the Pakistan Army and Navy.

“The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Thursday warned of widespread rain with thunderstorms across several districts in Punjab over the next two days, increasing the risk of river swelling in vulnerable areas due to rising water levels in upper catchments,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

The NDMA’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) predicted heavy rain and thunderstorms in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujrat, Gujranwala, and Lahore divisions in the next two days. The authority said intermittent showers were also likely in northwestern Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu districts and eastern Sargodha, Faisalabad, and southwestern Zhob divisions. 

“Heavy rainfall is expected to trigger a significant surge in hill torrent flows, posing additional risks to low-lying and flood-prone regions,” Radio Pakistan said. 

In response, NDMA said it has directed all relevant institutions to take proactive measures to manage potential emergency situations.

“Authorities are closely monitoring developments and implementing timely interventions to mitigate hazards and ensure public safety,” the state-run media said.

The NDMA urged citizens to avoid crossing swollen streams, bridges, and flooded roads. It called upon residents in high-risk areas to stay informed of the latest weather situation through official announcements on television and mobile alerts.

FLOODS IN SINDH

Concerns for riverine floods increased in the downstream southern Sindh province since earlier this month as water levels in Punjab receded and headed toward the southern province.
“The River Indus at Guddu is in medium flood, Sukkur is in high flood and Kotri is in low flood level,” the Pakistan Meteorological Department said in a statement on Thursday, referring to three major barrages in Sindh.
“River Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala is in medium flood whereas at Sulemanki and Islam it is at low flood level,” it continued. “The River Indus at Kotri is likely to remain in medium flood level up to the end of this month.
Pakistan, which contributes only one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, is among the countries most severely affected by climate change.

Catastrophic floods in 2022 killed 1,700 people, affected 33 million and caused over $30 billion in damage.

PARIS: Malnutrition can cause its own form of diabetes, health experts said Thursday, calling for “type 5 diabetes” to be recognized globally to help fight the disease in countries already struggling with poverty and starvation.

The most common form of diabetes, type 2, can be caused by obesity and occurs when adults become resistant to the hormone insulin. Type 1, mostly diagnosed in childhood, arises when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin.

But diabetes researchers have been tracking another form of the disease, which often appears in people aged under 30. It also affects insulin production but is less severe than type 1.

And rather than being linked to being overweight or obese like type 2, it affects people who are underweight because they do not eat enough.

A paper published in medical journal The Lancet Global Health shows that more than 25 million people suffer from this “type 5 diabetes,” mostly in developing countries.

“We call upon the international diabetes community to recognize this distinct form of the disease,” the authors wrote, reflecting a consensus reached by the International Diabetes Federation earlier this year.

The experts settled on calling this form of diabetes type 5, though types 3 and 4 have not been officially recognized.

Diabetes driven by malnutrition is not a new discovery — in the 1980s and 1990s, the World Health Organization classified a form of “malnutrition-related diabetes.”

But the UN agency abandoned this classification in 1999 due to a lack of agreement among experts about whether undernourishment alone was enough to cause diabetes.

Since then, numerous studies in countries including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Uganda, Pakistan and Rwanda have indicated that this is possible.

The exact link between malnutrition and this strand of diabetes remains unknown. The efficacy of existing diabetes treatments that do not focus on weight loss on type 5 is also unclear.

The best way to fight the disease involves supporting programs already working to combat poverty and hunger, the authors of the paper said.

This includes giving people access to “low-cost, energy-dense staple foods high in protein and complex carbohydrates” such as lentils, legumes, oil-enriched cereals and fortified grains, they added.