Islamabad, July 11: Torrential monsoon rains and flash floods have claimed at least 98 lives and left 185 others injured across Pakistan since June 26, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Friday.
The NDMA said that eight people were killed and 27 others injured in rain-related accidents in the past 24 hours. Punjab province recorded the highest number of fatalities, with 37 deaths, including 20 children, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 30 people lost their lives.
Authorities have issued warnings for further rainfall in the coming days and urged residents, particularly those in low-lying and vulnerable areas, to take precautionary measures. Rescue and relief operations remained underway in the worst-affected regions, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on July 10, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had placed multiple regions under high alert, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala, and several districts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, as the rain continues to batter the nation. Additionally, several roads had been blocked due to flooding, which has impacted the traffic in these cities, according to a report by the leading Pakistani newspaper, The Express Tribune.
Urban flooding has severely impacted major cities such as Lahore, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala, where rainwater has submerged low-lying areas and paralysed traffic. Roads in several key localities remain inundated, causing widespread disruption. The forecast reports suggested that heavy rainfall is likely to persist until Friday, raising the risk of flash floods.
In Punjab province, cities like Sialkot, Gujrat, Chiniot, Kasur, Ferozewala, Sargodha, etc, had reported intense rainfall accompanied by thunder and lightning. According to the Water and Sanitation Agency’s (Wasa) Monsoon Control Room, Lahore recorded an average of 58.8mm of rain, while some areas of the city, like Nishtar Town, received the highest 84mm, followed by Lakshmi Chowk (78mm) and Paniwala Talab (74mm).
As the heavy downpours lashed Lahore, shortcomings in the drainage system’s management were exposed when the key areas of the city, like Jail Road, Qurtaba Chowk, and Wasa Head Office in Gulberg, were waterlogged. Despite claims by the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) of clearing over 6,000 waste containers and deploying cleaning crews, residents had expressed frustration at the lack of visible progress.
The rainwater mixed with overflowing sewage has raised growing public health concerns, according to the residents, who are also finding it dreadful to navigate clogged roads. Furthermore, the situation has worsened in the hilly regions, particularly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Murree, due to the risk of landslides. In Balochistan, areas like Zhob and Sibi are among the worst affected.
IANS