Punjab has suffered from its worst flooding since 1988. Torrential rains in Aug. 2025, compounded by heavy water inflows from dams in India pushed the Ravi, Chenab, and Sutlej rivers into crisis mode. From Lahore’s Shahdara to Sialkot’s Sambrial and Kartarpur, embankments collapsed, villages drowned, and sacred sites were threatened. Authorities resorted to deliberate breaches near Jhang, Alipur Chatha, and Mandi Bahauddin to protect major cities, with rural Punjab bearing the brunt of destruction.
The scale was staggering: over two million people affected, 1,600 settlements damaged, and 280 villages fully submerged. Croplands were left ruined, livestock lost, and at least 30 lives cut short. Relief efforts were underway with 51 camps for displaced families and 354 medical units. However, survivors decried shortages of food, water, and sanitation. Women and children in overcrowded tents faced acute hardship, while southern Punjab braced for worsening flows of 260,000 cusecs surging through Kasur and 175,000 from Head Sulemanki toward Okara and Pakpattan.
Rescue teams, aided by drones and thermal cameras in Lahore, continued round-the-clock operations, evacuating hundreds of thousands. Yet, as rains persisted and rivers threatened to merge, Punjab’s tragedy unfolded a disaster measured not only in numbers but in shattered lives, stolen homes and fading dreams
