• Mass evacuations underway due to exceptional floods, downpours in Punjab
• Authorities execute controlled breaches along Chenab River to save critical barrages, bridges, and major urban centres
• Urban flooding in KP areas leaves neighbourhoods submerged; minor dies in Peshawar
• Ghizer district faces increased flood risk due to glacier melt, PMD issues alert
LAHORE/ PESHAWAR / GILGIT: While severe flooding[1] in Sutlej, Ravi, and Chenab rivers prompted mass evacuations across Punjab, the situation aggravated due to a renewed spell of downpour and a barrage breach[2] in India, leaving Sindh to revise flood displacement estimate, now projecting over 1.65 million people at risk along both banks of the Indus River.
In the country’s northern parts, glacier melting[3] threatened further floods in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Ghizer district as per Met Office warning and some Khyber Pakhtunkhwa areas, including Peshawar, recorded urban flooding amid heavy rains.
Authorities in Punjab are grappling with what they call an unprecedented hydrological crisis, as the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) and Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) report dangerously high water levels across key river sites, with several nearing or exceeding critical levels.
Millions of residents in low-lying areas of Punjab are being relocated as authorities struggle to manage what officials describe as an unprecedented hydrological crisis.
The combined inflow from the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers continues to pose a severe threat to downstream regions, including Multan and Muzaffargarh. The flows from the three rivers are now halfway through Punjab.
At 6:30pm, the water levels have risen to 524.20 feet, dangerously close to the critical threshold of 526 feet at the Rivaz Bridge on the Chenab River.
Water flow
According to the FFD data as of 12am on Sunday, the water flow at Marala and Khanki headworks on the Chenab River was 95,152 cusecs and 229,100 cusecs, respectively.
Qadirabad Headworks was steady at 203,862 cusecs, and so was Trimmu Headworks at 184,108 cusecs.
The Ravi River is also exhibiting alarming trends. Balloki Headworks was steady at an extremely high volume of 211,395 cusecs, while the flow at Shahdara was falling and stood at 90,500 cusecs. Jassar was also steady at 95,580 cusecs while Sidhnai was rising at 30,481 cusecs.
The Sutlej River continues to flow at exceptionally high levels. Ganda Sing Wala was steady at 253,068 cusecs, Sulemanki Headworks at 154,219 cusecs and Islam Headworks at 68,058 cusecs. Panjnad Headworks was rising at 73,166 cusecs.
On the Indus River, the outflow was recorded at 344,723 cusecs at Guddu Barrage, 256,660 at Sukkur Barrage and 236,223 at Kotri Barrage — all being in the “low flood” category.
Dykes breached
In a high-stakes operation to manage an unprecedented flood wave, provincial authorities were executing controlled breaches of protective dykes along the Chenab River at several locations. The strategy was followed to sacrifice thousands of acres of land to save critical barrages, bridges, and major urban centres in Jhang, Hafizabad, Sheikhupura, Nankana, and Kasur.
Around 850,000 cusecs of water were expected to reach Trimmu Barrage on Saturday night, and a controlled breach of the protective dyke was planned to save the headworks if the water levels exceed its capacity.
The authorities also installed ammunition in two flood dykes near Rangpur and Head Muhammad Wala, in case the flow increased to threaten Multan and Muzaffargarh within a day or two.
Speaking to the media, Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General Irfan Ali Kathia warned that very high to exceptionally high floods will continue in the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab rivers until Sept 3.
According to the Flood Forecasting Division, under the influence of a monsoon low over north Madhya Pradesh, heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls is expected over the upper catchments of the Sutlej, Bias and Ravi rivers from Sept 2-3.
Mr Kathia said that an exceptionally high flood level will continue in the Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala, while the Chenab at Trimmu is expected to attain an exceptionally high flood level during Saturday night. He said that the Chenab at Panjnad is expected to attain a very high flood level on Sep 3.
The PDMA chief said floodwaters in Punjab’s rivers right now would meet at Head Panjnad on the night of Sept 4. “It will have a total intensity of 875,000-925,000 cusecs,” he said while speaking to the media.
He forecasted that the waters would then reach the Guddu barrage on Sept 6, with a high intensity of 975,000 to 1,050,000 cusecs due to possible rains.
He said that the floodwaters at Ganda Singh Wala on the Sutlej River right now would reach Head Sulemanki in the next 24-36 hours and “achieve a peak”. Water flow would increase at Head Islam near Vehari in the next 48-55 hours.
Noting that there had been more rain, Mr Kathia said more water flows had entered from India into the Chenab River, leading to a medium-level flood at Marala.
Meanwhile, evacuations in low-lying areas of Pindi Bhattian, Chiniot, Hafizabad, Alipur Chatha, Jhang, Sillanwali, Athara Hazari, Rungpur, Khanewal, Kabirwala, Multan, Shujaabad, Jalalpur Pirwala and Muzaffargarh are ongoing.
Multan Commissioner Aamir Karim Khan said that as many as 261,747 people were evacuated from the division, including 238,419 from Multan, 2,307 from Vehari, 17,068 from Khanewal and 3,953 from Lodhran. As many as 255,538 cattle were also evacuated.
The daily flood situation report, submitted to South Punjab Additional Chief Secretary and seen by Dawn, states that 478,270 people were affected and 514,434 acres of cropland were damaged due to flood in Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur divisions due to flood in Indus and Sutlej rivers. Over 267,683 acres of land were lost due to flooding in the Indus River in the DG Khan division.
Over 383,000 people and 140,000 livestock were evacuated, and 507 relief camps were established after a flood alert in the Chenab River.
1.65m people in Sindh at risk
Meanwhile, the Sindh government has revised its earlier assessment on potential displacement due to floods, now estimating that over 1.65 million people living on both the right and left banks of the Indus River are at risk.
Just a day earlier, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority informed Sindh’s chief minister that more than 52,000 families could face displacement due to high water flows.
However, Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, speaking at a press conference on Saturday, revised the figure, stating that the displacement risk could affect over 273,000 families, with 1,651 villages and 167 union councils at risk. He assured the public that the government was fully prepared to respond.
Also on Saturday, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was assured that all the barrages were under control and that all necessary safety measures had been implemented.
Flooding in Peshawar
According to the PMD, the provincial capital received 41 millimetres of rain, whereas heavy rainfall in the catchment areas in Khyber district also swelled the Budni and other nullahs, submerging low-lying areas along Warsak Road, Safia Town, Regi Model Town and Nasir Bagh.
Rain waters entered several houses in these areas, forcing the residents to leave their homes for safer places.
Rescue 1122 said that a roof collapse in the Nahaqi area on Charsadda Road left a minor girl dead, while a wall collapse in the Faqir Killay area of Warsak Road left a person injured.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmed Faizi said that rescuers evacuated 300 individuals to safety. He said that the operations engaged over 280 rescue personnel equipped with water rescue vans, disaster-response vehicles, fire engines and ambulances.
He said that relief efforts focused heavily on vulnerable regions, including Nasir Bagh Road, Warsak Road and Budhni. “Rescue teams utilised rubber boats to safely evacuate elderly citizens, women, and children, prioritising their protection. Loudspeaker announcements along water channels were made to advise people to stay vigilant and take precautionary measures,” he said.
Besides, he said that water levels at Budhni Nullah along Charsadda Road were gradually declining. Rescue 1122 teams have also been deployed in the Mian Gujar area.
KP’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority said that Budni nullah recorded medium-level floods after the rains. Water level in the nullah at Darmangi was recorded at 11,900 cusecs while Pir Bala stood at 9,000 cusecs.
In Khyber district, flash floods washed away a portion of the road in Jamrud as the region received torrential rains early on Saturday morning, suspending traffic on the Peshawar-Torkham Highway for several hours.
The road blockade also affected the integration of the returning Afghan nationals for nearly six hours at Torkham, as most vehicles carrying the Afghan returnees got stranded on the road at Katta Kushtha, where a portion of the road collapsed in gushing floodwaters.
The excessive rains and resulting floods in most water channels in Landi Kotal, Jamrud and Bara caused damage to houses, warehouses, shops and kiosks and swept away a motor car and damaging the boundary wall of a cricket academy in Bara.
Meanwhile, around two dozen students trapped in a flooded watercourse were rescued in the Lakki Marwat district on Saturday.
Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur directed officials to remain in the field until rescue and relief operations are complete and ensure the continuous presence of emergency teams until conditions return to normal.
According to the PMD, Cherat received 165mm of rain over the past 24 hours, while Kakul received 54mm, Peshawar 41mm, Balakot 14mm, Malam Jabba 10mm, Bannu 5mm, and Dera Ismail Khan 4mm.
Ghizer faces rising flood risk
The Provincial Emergency Operation Centre issued a “Risk of Excessive Glacier Melt in Ghizer” alert, stating that the temperature at the Darkut station in Yasin Valley had reached 35 degrees Celsius.
The PMD warned that this soaring temperature could lead to excessive glacier melt in the upper areas of Ghizer, heightening the risk of glacial floods, flash floods in streams and nullahs and potential inundation of low-lying settlements.
Resident Gul Sher told Dawn that people in these villages are living in tents without basic necessities. “We have no access to drinking water and our children’s education has been severely affected as schools have been damaged and roads to these institutions are blocked,” he said.
Ibrahim Shinwari in Khyber, Ghulam Mursalin Marwat in Lakki Marwat and Tahir Siddiqui in Karachi also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2025