In Pakistan’s Punjab province, mass evacuations began earlier this week after heavier-than-usual monsoon rains and the release of water from overflowing dams in India triggered flash floods in low-lying border regions.
In a statement, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif credited “timely evacuations” with saving lives. She said advance preparations and the demolition of illegally-built structures along waterways had helped prevent large-scale casualties in what officials describe as the province’s worst flood emergency in decades.
“No displaced person should be without food and medical help in the flood-hit areas,” she told officials during a meeting to review the situation. “Try your best to prevent the spread of water-borne disease among the flood-affected people,” she warned.
Pakistan’s Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, on a visit to the flood-hit city of Narowal, accused India of deliberately releasing excessive amounts of water from its dams without timely warnings. He said New Delhi violated a key water treaty that it suspended earlier this year after the killing of 26 tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan-based militants for the attack, an accusation Islamabad denied.
Iqbal said “The release of water in such an enormous volume amounts to water aggression, and India did it, and we are seeing flood devastations.”
There was no immediate comment from New Delhi.
Floods in Narowal also submerged the shrine of Guru Nanak, located near the Indian border, but rescuers evacuated the staff and pilgrims quickly.
In 2022, catastrophic floods linked to climate change killed nearly 1,700 people in Pakistan.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/pakistan-floods-heavy-rain-displaced-gujranwala-5319656
