Rescue efforts in full swing as dozens of villages in Punjab still under water

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>• Floods along GT Road affect over 1,000 houses, inundate over 43,000 acres of land<br>• Official says water in affected villages receding, warns rainfall may cause floods again<br>• FFD says Indus flowing at medium flood, predicts ‘medium-to-high-level flows’ in eastern rivers’ nullahs</p> <p>LAHORE: Recent floods in Feroze­wala, Muridke — Sheikhupra tehsils — and Kala Shah Kaku have affe­cted more than 94 villages, submerging vast tracts of land along the Lahore-Guj­ranwala tract of the GT Road for the past several days.</p> <p>According to a Punjab Provincial Disaster Man­a­gement Authority (PDMA) report, at least 1,215 hou­ses — 1,075 in Ferozewala and 140 in Muridke — were affected, while 43,188 acres of land were inundated.</p> <p>The PDMA said 738 pe­­o­ple and 46 livestock were evacuated, adding that 13 relief camps were established. Over a dozen medical camps and mobile clinics treated 1,633 pati­e­nts while 4,085 ration bags were distributed among af­­­fected families. The PDMA report said that Rescue 1122 deployed seven dewatering sets and 25 more were deployed by the municipal committees.</p> <figure class='media w-full sm:w-1/2 media--right media--embed media--uneven' data-original-src='https://www.dawn.com/news/2019342'> <div class='media__item media__item--newskitlink '> <iframe class="nk-iframe" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="height:250px;position:relative" src="https://www.dawn.com/news/card/2019342" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms"></iframe></div> </figure> <p>The situation, however, seemed to be returning to normal on Thursday, as officials and locals said the water level in the Bhed and Deg nullahs was rece­ding. “However, if there are heavy rains in the next four to five days as predicted (by the Met office), the situation may again turn dangerous,” an irrigation official feared.</p> <p>“The water level in ma­­jor localities, such as Pat­h­­an Colony and Noor­pur, Rahim Colony and others, has come down,” confir­m­­ed an official of the Lahore division’s administration. The official said that the Lahore commissioner and the Sheikhupura deputy commissioner were visiting the flood-affected areas daily and also met officers from various departments at the Ferozewala Muni­­ci­pal Committee (MCL). The Sheikhupura DC informed the commissioner about the losses, stating that the flooding in the nullahs (Bhed, Deg etc) submerged 94 mauzas and affected a large number of people, the official claimed.</p> <h2><a id="more-boats-for-rescue" href="#more-boats-for-rescue" class="heading-permalink" aria-hidden="true" title="Permalink"></a>More boats for rescue</h2> <p>Meanwhile, the administrations also expanded rescue and relief operations by adding more boats to reach residents in several rural and semi-urban localities that were still underwater after the nullahs breached their banks. Police have also been deployed in the area to safeguard the life and property of the victims.</p> <p>The residents confirmed the intensification of the rescue and relief operation. “Yes, the government has reached us well with the expansion of the operation. Now the area has more boats to rescue people. We are also being given food and dry fruits,” said Waseem Khan, a resident of Pathan Colo­­ny. “The water level in the nullah as well as the village has dropped to one to two feet. The accumulation of water in our houses has also reduced,” he added.</p> <p>Meanwhile, a press rel­ease issued by the office of the Lahore commissioner said that Commissioner Nauman Yousaf visited flo­od relief camps and inundated areas in Sheikhu­pura to review rescue and relief operations.</p> <p><strong>Flood forecast</strong></p> <p>In a statement on Thu­rsday, the Flood Fore­casting Divi­sion (FFD) said the Indus River will remain in a <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2019165">medi­um flood</a> at Guddu Barrage for up to 36 hours before entering a similar state at Sukkur Barrage over the next 24 hours.</p> <p>River Chenab will like­­ly fluctuate between low and medium floods at Marala, Khanki and Qadirabad and flow in high flood at Marala in the coming days. Accor­ding to the FFD, the water level in Ravi, Chenab, Jhe­lum, Sutlej and Kabul has come down considerably, and they were flowing bel­ow the low flood threshold.</p> <p>The FFD, however, predicted medium-to-high-level flows in the nullahs of Jhe­lum, Chenab (Dora, Dotta, Dowara, Bhimber, Halsi, Aik, and Palkhu), and Ravi (Bein, Bassanter, Deg, and Sakki).</p> <p><em>Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2026</em></p> This development from dawn.com highlights ongoing changes in the sector.