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KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed federal and provincial authorities to conduct a comprehensive and “realistic” assessment of the human, financial and agricultural losses caused by weeks of monsoon rains and floods, warning that rehabilitation efforts could only be planned once the full scale of damage was known.

Heavy rains and excess water released from Indian dams caused the rivers in the province of Punjab 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.

Since the onset of the monsoon season on June 26, Punjab has reported 290 deaths out of a nationwide toll of 992, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Other casualties include 504 deaths in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 80 in Sindh, 41 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 38 in Azad Kashmir, 30 in Balochistan and nine in Islamabad.

Chairing a floods review meeting in Islamabad, PM Sharif said damages to crops, livestock, roads and communications must be counted alongside deaths and displacement and instructed agencies to seek satellite support from the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO). He also called on authorities to prioritize crop protection and road restoration in inundated areas.

“Only after a complete estimation will the government formulate a comprehensive strategy for rehabilitation so that effective progress can be made in the restoration of affected areas and people,” Sharif said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said the provincial death toll had risen to 112 since late August and that a survey had been launched to assess household and crop losses.

More than 4.7 million people and 4,700 villages have been affected, according to the Punjab Disaster Management Authority, with 2.6 million people relocated to safer areas, the PDMA said. 

As stagnant floodwaters linger, officials have warned of an elevated risk of dengue fever in urban and rural centers, with the meteorological department cautioning of “unprecedentedly high risk” of outbreaks in at least ten major cities from Sept. 20.

Despite contributing less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Catastrophic floods in 2022 killed nearly 1,700 people, submerged a third of the country at one point, and inflicted over $30 billion in damages, according to government estimates.

RIVERS FLOW DOWNSTREAM

After swelling in Punjab last month, the Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab rivers are now feeding into the Indus as floodwaters move south toward Sindh province. These rivers meet at Panjnad in southern Punjab before joining the Indus, Pakistan’s main waterway, which flows the length of the country before emptying into the Arabian Sea.

Latest flow readings on Tuesday evening showed levels easing or holding steady at most points.

On the Chenab, water remained stable at the Marala, Khanki and Qadirabad headworks — barrage-like control structures that regulate flows into Punjab’s canal system — while downstream at Trimmu inflows were measured at 78,756 cusecs.

On the Ravi, inflows were steady at Jassar near the Indian border, Shahdara on the outskirts of Lahore, and Balloki further south. The Sutlej also remained high but largely stable, with 89,060 cusecs at Ganda Singh Wala near Kasur, 90,593 at Sulemanki, and 65,224 at Islam Headworks. At Panjnad, where Punjab’s five rivers converge, inflows reached 219,434 cusecs.

Downstream in Sindh, the Indus continued to run high, with 609,137 cusecs recorded at Guddu Barrage and 502,667 at Sukkur, still classed as “high flood.” Kotri Barrage, the last major control point before the river enters the Arabian Sea, eased to around 293,000 cusecs in the “medium flood” range.

Authorities warned elevated levels would persist at Sukkur for several days before gradually receding toward Kotri.

ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of Pakistan and 15 other nations have called for the security of Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) that has been en route to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, the Pakistani foreign office said on Tuesday.

The flotilla set sail from Tunisia on Sunday, with organizers and participants saying they were determined to break Israel’s siege of Gaza and deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid. The departure of the convoy, which is carrying activists from more than 40 countries aboard, from the port city of Bizerte was delayed after two flotilla vessels came under attack last week.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Ireland, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain and Türkiye expressed their concerns about the security of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civil society initiative in which citizens of their countries are participating. 

They said the Global Sumud Flotilla has informed about its objective of delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, raising awareness about the urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people and the need to stop Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians since Oct. 2023.

“We therefore call on everyone to refrain from any unlawful or violent act against the Flotilla, to respect international law and international humanitarian law,” the joint statement shared by the Pakistani foreign office said.

“We recall that any violation of international law and human rights of the participants in the Flotilla, including attack against vessels in international waters or illegal detention, will lead to accountability.”

The fleet of more than 100 vessels, which will converge in the Mediterranean, brings together four regional alliances: Sumud Nusantara from Asia, Sumud Maghrib from Africa, the Global March to Gaza from the Middle East and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition from Europe.

Pakistani senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan last month arrived in Tunisia, while Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon left Barcelona, vowing to try to “break the illegal siege of Gaza.”

The development takes place as Israel intensifies its military offensive in Gaza, limiting the deliveries of food and basic supplies there. The move has earned the ire of several countries around the world, including Pakistan, who have demanded Israel lift the blockade and allow medicines and food to reach the people.

Food experts warned in August that Gaza was in famine and that half a million people across the territory were facing catastrophic levels of hunger.