MURIDKE, Pakistan, July 27, (V7N)– Flooding from heavy monsoon rains inundated villages in eastern Pakistan on Monday, pushing residents to flee their homes by boat over fields turned into vast swathes of water, while many others remained stranded without food, clean water, or electricity.
AFP journalists witnessed small motor boats chartered by volunteers ferrying residents to safety, but many more were left stranded in Muridke district in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province. "It has been four days, and no rescue team has reached us," said 32-year-old Iqra Salman. "We have no electricity, no clean water, and now we have completely run out of food supplies. We are surrounded by floodwater on all sides."
Flood-related incidents, including drowning and house collapses, have killed 109 people in Pakistan since June 26, according to official disaster agency figures, with around a third of the deaths in Punjab. Volunteer rescuers said they had launched an effort to rescue people and recover belongings from around a dozen villages. "Four rescue boats... are actively conducting rescue operations, evacuating people stranded by the flooding," said volunteer rescuer Haris Dar.
Even when brought to safety, residents faced difficult conditions, sleeping in small tents in humid heat. Muhammad Ramzan, 45, recalled water rushing in shortly before his family's house collapsed: "The water rose so rapidly that we had no opportunity to save or remove any of our belongings. We have lost everything and have nothing."
Pakistan is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with limited resources for adaptation. While South Asia's seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable, and deadly across the region. In neighbouring Afghanistan, flash floods and heavy rainfall killed 34 people between July 20-26, including a deluge in eastern Nuristan province that left around 100 missing. In 2022, what UN chief Antonio Guterres called a "monsoon on steroids" caused havoc across Pakistan, killing around 1,700 people and submerging huge areas of the country.
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