DISPLACED families have begun returning home as floodwaters significantly receded across much of eastern Punjab province, where swollen rivers displaced more than 2.5 million people and killed about 100 during weeks of monsoon deluges, officials said.
Photos and videos posted on social media showed lush fields that once swayed with crops reduced to sand and silt. Returning residents said they will have to replant while rebuilding their homes.
Floodwater levels are decreasing at Panjnad, where the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers all converge before flowing into the Indus, said Irfan Ali Kathia, the authority’s director general.
Rescue and relief operations in some districts are ongoing, officials said.
More than 4,500 villages in Punjab were inundated during weeks of torrential rains and repeated water releases from overflowing dams in neighbouring India, according to the Punjab Disaster Management Authority.
The flow of water in the Ravi and Chenab rivers has returned to normal and levels on the Sutlej river is falling, the agency said.
India shared at least six flood alerts with Pakistan in recent weeks and the water releases swelled rivers in Punjab, causing significant damage, according to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority.
The agency directed returning residents to follow instructions from local administrators so they can receive government assistance or stay in camps if their villages remain unsafe.
The floodwaters are moving south toward Pakistan’s Sindh province, which bore the brunt of Pakistan’s catastrophic 2022 floods that killed more than 1,700 people nationwide. — AP
