Over 100,000 displaced as floods spread to Pakistan's Sindh province

• Provincial Disaster Management Authority issues flood warnings in various areas as floodwaters continue to rise in Sutlej and Chenab rivers
• 8 more lost lives in northeastern Punjab province during past 24 hours due to floods

ISLAMABAD

Over 100,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas as floodwaters spread across Pakistan's southern Sindh province, officials said on Friday.

Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon of the Sindh government said that so far, 109,320 people have been relocated to safe locations near rivers.

"Most people have been evacuated from Katcha areas as precautionary measures," Memon said in a statement.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority also issued flood warnings in various areas as floodwaters continued to rise in the Sutlej and Chenab rivers.

"The River Indus at Guddu is expected to reach high to very high flood levels from September 7th to 8th," the PDMA said in a separate statement.

Heavy rain is expected in Sindh, Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan, Kashmir, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces beginning Saturday, according to the weather department.

The Sindh government has already established relief camps in safer locations to house the displaced people, and rescue and health teams have been deployed throughout flood-prone districts to ensure timely evacuation and medical care.

Floodwaters have begun to spread into Sindh after wreaking havoc in northern regions and northeastern Punjab province.

Earlier on Friday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued a new flood warning for Punjab province after India reportedly released more water from its Sutlej dams.

New Delhi has issued several warnings to Islamabad in recent weeks, following India's decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance in April.

In New Delhi, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said flood data is being shared with Islamabad on "humanitarian considerations."

"We have been sharing high flood data with Pakistan through our diplomatic channels whenever required. This data sharing is happening through our High Commission in Islamabad," he said on Friday.

The Punjab government has already evacuated an estimated 900,000 people and 600,000 animals from flood-affected areas.

For the first time in the country's 78-year history, the three eastern rivers—Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej—overflowed at the same time, affecting nearly 4,000 villages and over 2 million people.

Over the last 24 hours, another eight people have died in Punjab province in rain- and flood-related incidents, bringing the provincial death toll to 66 since August 25.

Since the beginning of monsoon rains on June 26, at least 892 people have died across Pakistan. Nearly 580 deaths have been reported since August 14, with more than 400 in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

According to government statistics, the most recent floods are the worst since the catastrophic deluges of 2022, which inundated a third of the country and killed over 1,700 people while causing $32 billion in infrastructure damage.

While in India, monsoon rains have wreaked havoc in recent weeks, causing cloudbursts, flash floods, and landslides in several northern Indian states. 43 people have died in floods in Punjab state since August 1, while over 350 people have died in rain-related incidents in neighboring Himachal Pradesh since June of this year.