After neighboring India released excess water from an overflowing dam, there is a risk of major flooding in the eastern region of Pakistan. Along with this, the authorities are moving tens of thousands of locals to safer places.
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After neighboring India released excess water from an overflowing dam, there is a risk of major flooding in the eastern region of Pakistan.
After releasing excess water from an overflowing dam in neighboring India, there is a risk of major flooding in the eastern region of Pakistan. Along with this, the authorities are moving tens of thousands of locals to safer places.
New Delhi warned Islamabad about possible cross-border flooding the day before. The announcement is also the first public diplomatic contact between the two nuclear-armed rivals in recent months. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued a warning about rising water levels in the Sutlej River and said that people have been evacuated from various districts of Punjab province.
Rescuers have evacuated more than 14 thousand people from Kasur district alone, while more than 89 thousand residents have been evacuated from Bahawalnagar city near the Indian border. The NDMA has asked citizens to stay away from rivers, creeks and low-lying areas, avoid unnecessary travel and carefully follow the information disseminated through the media, mobile messages and its disaster warning app .
For the last two months, due to the monsoon rains, another crisis has been added to Pakistan, which is facing the disaster of floods. More than 300 people died in this month's flash floods in northwestern Buner district. Locals complained that they did not receive advance warning, but officials said that the flood could not be predicted due to sudden torrential rains. Since June 26, floods caused by monsoon rains in Pakistan have killed more than 800 people. Dozens have died in the disputed Kashmir region alone, while thousands have been displaced in the Indian-administered part. Monsoon rains are expected to continue till September .
The flood warning this time was sent through direct diplomatic channels and not from the permanent mechanism (Indus Water Commission) under the Indus Water Treaty brokered by the World Bank in 1960 . India suspended the commission after 26 tourists were killed in Kashmir last April. Pakistan has made it clear that this treaty cannot be unilaterally revoked.
The Indus Water Treaty was not broken in the past even during the wars of 1965 and 1971 and the major border clashes of 1999 . But after the killing of tourists in Pahalgam, India not only suspended the treaty but also cut diplomatic relations. As a result of which there was a missile attack between both sides in May. The attack was stopped only after the ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump. Since then, there has been no attempt to normalize the relationship .
Experts and meteorologists have considered the increasing rainfall in this region to be the effect of climate change . This year's rains have raised fears of a repeat of the devastating floods of 2022 . The devastating floods of 2022 submerged one-third of the country and killed 1,739 people.
