Pakistan evacuates 25,000 people from eastern city as rivers threaten flooding

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JALALPUR PIRWALA, Pakistan (AP) — Rescuers backed by troops evacuated more than 25,000 people from a city in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province overnight as rising rivers threatened to flood the region, officials said Monday.

The emergency rescue operation in Jalalpur Pirwala began late Sunday and continued through the night, said Irfan Ali Kathia, director-general of the Punjab Disaster Management Authority. By Monday morning, about 25,000 residents from high-risk neighborhoods had been moved to safer areas.

The latest evacuations from Jalalpur Pirwala came two days after a rescue boat capsized in floodwaters on the city’s outskirts, killing five people. Fifteen others were rescued after the boat overturned Saturday, local officials said.

Ghulam Shabir, a 50-year-old construction worker, said that he moved to higher ground near the city after floodwater entered his village, inundating homes and farmland. He appealed to the government to expedite rescue work as many people were still stranded in flooded villages.

The government has deployed hundreds of boats, and thousands of rescuers and volunteers for evacuations in flood-hit districts.

The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, a volunteer group known for being among the first responders in natural disasters, is among those involved in the efforts, with members spread across the country. The group’s spokesman, Taha Muneeb, said that floodwaters had already submerged all the villages surrounding Jalalpur Pirwala and had begun to seep into the city itself.

“Many residents refuse to leave, saying it is better to remain on their rooftops than to sit helpless on the roadside,” he said.

Survivors told reporters that many people remain stranded on rooftops and trees.

“I saw with my own eyes people perched on branches of trees, half-submerged in floodwaters,” said Taj Din, who was among a dozen evacuees rescued by a boat.

Punjab government spokesperson Uzma Bukhari said that they're utilizing thermal imaging drones to locate stranded people in flooded areas, enabling them to be rescued by boat. She said that “the government is doing its best to handle this situation.”

Though Pakistan hasn't issued any appeal for help, the Saudi government on Monday delivered 10,000 food packages and 10,000 shelter kits to the Punjab government for flood-hit families. The Saudi shipment came just two days after Washington also dispatched emergency supplies for Pakistan’s flood victims.

Floods have so far affected more than 4.1 million people across 4,100 villages in 25 districts of Punjab province. Since Aug. 26, there have been at least 56 flood-related deaths, while more than 2 million residents have been moved to safety, Kathia said.

The disaster management official told The Associated Press that displaced families were being provided with tents and food supplies. He said that the local administration, assisted by troops and police, was expediting evacuations in the city, which has a population of nearly 700,000. Mosques broadcast evacuation announcements as residents scrambled onto vehicles amid heavy rainfall.

Punjab has been conducting one of its largest rescue operations, including with the aid of drones, since last month, when floodwaters inundated multiple districts after India released water from its dams. The surges swelled the Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers, while torrential monsoon rains further raised water levels.

Kathia said that Punjab’s chief minister, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, is personally monitoring the evacuation effort from a central control room. The Pakistani army, police and rescue services are assisting, including helicopter airlifts from remote villages.

Since late June, monsoon flooding has killed more than 900 people across Pakistan, according to the National Disaster Management Authority, or NDMA. Over the weekend, India again notified Islamabad through diplomatic channels of potential cross-border flooding, the agency said.

Kathia said that surging waters have already displaced more than 2 million people across Punjab since Aug. 23, when heavy rains and dam releases began overwhelming rivers. Only about 60,000 of them are living in official relief camps, he said, while most sought shelter with relatives in nearby towns or set up makeshift camps along river embankments, waiting for the waters to recede.

Evacuations are also underway in southern Sindh province, which faces growing threats as water continues to flow downstream into the Indus River and where more than 100,000 people have already been relocated from vulnerable settlements.

Sindh was among the worst-hit regions in the catastrophic 2022 floods, which killed 1,739 people nationwide.

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Babar Dogar reported from Lahore. Munir Ahmed contributed to this report from Islamabad.

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This story has been corrected to show that the last name of the volunteer group's spokesman is Muneeb, not Munir.