Pakistan has evacuated tens of thousands of people to safer areas after neighboring India released water from overflowing dams and swollen rivers into low-lying border regions, officials said yesterday.
The move came a day after New Delhi alerted Islamabad about possible cross-border flooding, marking the first public diplomatic contact between the two nuclear-armed rivals in months.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority said it had issued an advance alert to its Punjabi counterparts about a surge in the Sutlej River and the risk of flooding, and that evacuations from various districts in the eastern Punjab Province were under way.
Photo: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority via AP
In a statement, it said rescuers evacuated more than 14,000 people from Kasur, a district in Punjab Province, while more than 89,000 were moved to safer ground from the city of Bahawalnagar, near the Indian border.
The agency said authorities have urged residents to stay away from rivers, streams and low-lying areas, avoid unnecessary travel, and follow alerts issued through the media, mobile phones and the agency’s disaster alert app.
The latest flood alert and evacuation drive by Pakistan comes as heavy monsoon rains continue to batter both South Asian countries.
In Pakistan’s northwest, many residents complained this month that they had received no warning before flash floods struck Buner District, killing more than 300 people. Officials have said the devastation was caused by a sudden cloudburst, which could not have been predicted, and that many of the victims were living along natural water pathways.
Nationwide, floods triggered by seasonal rains have killed more than 800 people in Pakistan since June 26.
In Kashmir, which is split between the two sides and claimed by both in its entirety, at least 65 have also died and hundreds have been displaced in the Indian-
administered Jammu area.
Many of the region’s rivers and tributaries eventually flow into Pakistan and the part of Kashmir it controls. Indian officials yesterday said that most rivers and streams were overflowing, with muddy waters inundating homes in several places and damaging roads and bridges. Water levels in multiple rivers continued to rise in the region.
The Indian Meteorological Department forecast that rains would persist until late yesterday.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS