ISLAMABAD; Pakistan’s death toll from the ongoing monsoon rains has risen to 802, with at least 1,088 people injured and 7,465 homes damaged, according to figures released by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Tuesday.
The brunt of the devastation has been borne by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), which has reported 479 deaths, followed by Punjab with 165, Sindh with 57, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) with 45, Balochistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) with 24 each, and Islamabad with 8 fatalities. The casualties include 480 men, 119 women, and 203 children.
The injuries also reflect the scale of the crisis: Punjab reported 584 wounded, KP 347, Sindh 75, GB 45, AJK 29, Balochistan 5, and Islamabad 3. Housing damage has been widespread, with over 4,200 homes in KP, 1,642 in AJK, 1,029 in GB, and hundreds more across other provinces either destroyed or damaged.
At a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, officials briefed that over 174,000 people have already been evacuated from flood-hit districts of Punjab after water from the Sutlej River inundated low-lying areas. The prime minister directed authorities to speed up rescue operations, particularly in districts along the Sutlej, and ensure the supply of food, tents, and medicines. He also instructed the NDMA chairman to maintain close coordination with the Punjab PDMA.
Officials said that timely early warnings had prevented larger loss of life in some areas, despite severe flooding in the Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala and Sulemanki, the Ravi at Jassar, and the Chenab at Marala. Heavy flooding was also reported in Nullah Dek, forcing evacuations in Narowal’s Lehri Bund area. Meanwhile, power restoration efforts are underway in parts of KP, while in GB, work is ongoing on a two-kilometre stretch of the submerged National Highway.
Forecasts warn of more heavy rainfall in the next 12–24 hours across Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, AJK, and parts of GB. Officials have linked the worsening flood situation to India’s release of additional water into Pakistani rivers. This has swelled the Sutlej, Ravi, and Chenab, causing breaches in Narowal, Sialkot, and Shakargarh. In Zafarwal, part of the Hanjli Bridge collapsed due to the pressure of Nullah Dek, severing road links to dozens of villages.
At Head Marala on the Chenab, inflows surged to 350,000 cusecs, while the Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala rose to 188,000 cusecs, both reaching extremely high flood levels. In Bahawalpur’s Khairpur Tamewali, floodwaters submerged crops over thousands of acres, damaged homes, and inundated government schools. Sialkot received 335 mm of rain in just 24 hours, breaking an 11-year record and paralysing daily life.
Rescue operations remain underway as teams use boats to evacuate stranded residents. In Shakargarh, Nullah Bainsi and Nullah Basantar overflowed, submerging roads and villages. Tragedies continue to unfold: a roof collapse killed one woman and injured two children in Shakargarh, while in Buner district, the only cremation ground of the Sikh community was washed away, along with businesses and shops.
In Chagharzai tehsil, 18 members of a single family were buried in a mass funeral after being swept away, while in Shangla’s Khwar Banda area, nine members of another family perished. A grief-stricken father, Rafiullah, lost two sons and a daughter, while his wife was reported to be in severe shock.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reminded participants that Pakistan is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, recalling that the 2022 floods caused 30 billion dollars in damages and displaced millions. “We cannot tackle this challenge alone,” he said, calling for coordinated international action.
Earlier in the day, the NDMA chairman told the Public Accounts Committee that Pakistan is home to 7,500 glaciers, warning that a two-degree Celsius rise in temperature could melt 65 percent of them within 50 years. Lawmakers, however, strongly criticised the NDMA’s disaster preparedness. One member, Junaid Akbar, remarked that the authority seemed capable only of “retrieving bodies and repairing roads.” Another, Sanaullah Masti Khel, alleged that funds earmarked for early warning systems had been diverted to the Benazir Income Support Programme, adding that he would file an FIR if given authority.
The NDMA has warned that the eighth spell of monsoon rains is set to begin on Wednesday, raising further fears of floods across multiple provinces.
