Punjab | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday said it was ready to hold local government elections in Punjab and 23 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; however, repeated last-minute amendments by the federal and provincial governments had stalled the process. In Punjab, hearings on objections to the preliminary delimitation had concluded, the ECP said. “Delimitation authorities will communicate their decisions to the committee by Aug 7, 2026, and the final delimitation will be published on Aug 17, 2026.” The ECP said it would immediately consult the Punjab government to announce the election schedule. “The commission is fully ready to hold local government elections in Punjab,” it stated. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it said that delimitation had been completed in 23 districts, while it was underway in seven others. Under Section 219(3) of the Elections Act, the ECP met the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary and local government secretary on July 14, 2026, to discuss the election schedule for the 23 d...

Parts of Punjab and Islamabad received rain on Wednesday morning, marking the onset of a fresh monsoon spell in the country just as a previous one that caused flooding in several areas of Punjab and over 100 deaths ended. As of 11am, one injury in a rain-related incident in Punjab’s provincial capital, Lahore, was reported during the new rain spell. According to Rescue 1122, a 25-year-old man was injured in a roof collapse incident at a house in Lahore’s Baghbanpura. The emergency service’s statement said the roof was made of wooden beams and other material, and the injured was taken to Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital. Meanwhile, an update by the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) at 11:30am said the highest amount of rainfall in the city by then was recorded in Tajpura at 44.8mm. It was followed by 44.4mm of rain in Mughalpura, 32.8 in Shadipura, 31.4 at Pani Wala Talab, 29mm at Chowk Nakhuda, 26.8mm in Johar Town, 26mm in Mannawan, 22.4mm at Lakshmi Chowk, 16.4mm in Farrukhabad, 7.6mm in Saggian, 6.2mm in Nishta...

PMD warns of urban flooding and rising rivers as Punjab reviews bunds, relief camps and emergency plans

Chenab continued to witness flooding on Sunday, but with flow eased from medium to low, as the Met Office forecast a fresh rainfall spell from July 29 in the upper catchments of all major rivers, as well as Islamabad, upper Punjab and northern parts of the country. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Punjab said in a statement issued on Sunday morning that while the rivers in the province continued to flood due to rain, the flow in the waterways had remained stable in the past 24 hours. It added that there was low-level flooding in the Indus River at Kalabagh, Chashma, and Taunsa waterworks, with water flow being recorded at 334,000 cusecs at Kalabagh, 370,000 cusecs at Chashma and 313,000 cusecs at Taunsa around 6am. In the Chenab River, the flooding situation was subsiding, reaching a low-level flood at Marala, Khanki, Qadirabad, and Trimmu barrages, the authority added. At Marala, the water flow was 143,000 cusecs, 138,000 cusecs at Khanki, 135,000 cusecs at Qadirabad, and 184,000 cusecs...

LAHORE: At least seven people, including two children, were killed and 20 others injured in rain-related incidents across Punjab during the last 24 hours, while downpour also damaged houses and killed livestock, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. The PDMA report, available with Dawn, said 14 rain-related incidents were reported across the province up to 2pm on Saturday. These included deaths caused by structural collapses and drowning, injuries from roof collapses and electrocution, the collapse of seven house roofs, and the death of five buffaloes. In Lahore, three people, including a man, a woman and a child, died, while five others were injured in four separate roof-collapse incidents in Bobby Plaza, Garhi Shahu Railway Colony, Saggian Pind and Kahna. Two people, including a man and a child, were killed and three others, including a woman and two children, were injured when the roof of a house collapsed near Adda Dhing Shah on Depalpur Road in Kasur. A woman died after the roof of a...

Rising water levels in the Chenab and Ravi rivers have triggered flooding in several parts of Punjab, damaging farmland, eroding riverbanks and forcing authorities to step up relief measures in vulnerable areas.

• Flood Forecasting Division warns flows may rise further by July 25 amid new monsoon spell • Urban flooding likely in parts of Punjab, KP and Balochistan LAHORE: The Chenab River continued to remain in a high-flood state on Thursday as torrential rains lashed held Kashmir and several parts of Punjab. “The water level in the Chenab River at Marala and Khanki has subsided to medium flood. However, the river is flowing in high flood at Qadirabad and Chiniot Bridge. It is expected to subside by the time it reaches Trimmu Headworks after passing Chiniot Bridge,” a senior irrigation department official told Dawn. “This is according to a fresh report issued on Thursday evening,” he added. However, he warned of a possible rise in the river’s water level again at Marala if rains continued in held Kashmir. “Rains are still continuing in parts of held Kashmir. We will receive Thurs­day’s report from held Kashmir on Friday (today). Let’s see what happens,” he added. According to the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) of t...

The ongoing monsoon season has claimed 43 lives and left 177 people injured in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to the latest reports issued by the provincial disaster management authorities.

LAHORE/LOWER SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday directed all federal, provincial and local authorities to intensify coordinated preparedness, rescue and relief measures in view of the ongoing monsoon rains as the death toll from rain-related incidents rose to 43 in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to a press release issued by the President’s Secretariat, the president directed authorities to “intensify coordinated preparedness, rescue and relief measures as the country enters a critical phase of the monsoon season, with increasing rains raising the risk of flash floods, cloud bursts, glacial lake outburst floods, landslides, river flooding and urban flooding in vulnerable areas”. He also “expressed deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives and damage to homes, infrastructure and property caused by the recent rains and related incidents”. The president directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs), and provinci...

Intermittent heavy rainfall lashed several cities in Punjab over the previous 24 hours, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Wednesday. According to the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), 123 millimetres of rain was recorded in Lahore, a record 245mm in Gujranwala and 95mm in Gujrat. The PDMA said 139mm of rainfall was recorded in Sialkot, 138mm in Mandi Bahauddin, 117mm in Narowal, 85mm in Hafizabad, 70mm in Chakwal, 64mm in Okara, 35mm in Jhang, 33mm in Layyah and 32mm in Jhelum. The disaster management authority further said that since the start of the monsoon season in the province, at least 17 people have died in rain-related incidents. Of the reported deaths, 12 were caused by the collapse of buildings or other structures, two by lightning strikes and three by electrocution, the PDMA said. Meanwhile, CM Maryam also appealed to the public not to risk their lives by going near or bathing in canals, rivers and rainwater drains during the monsoon season and flood conditions. Resident...

At least 23 people have lost their lives, while dozens of others have been injured in rain-related incidents across Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the ongoing monsoon spell continues to cause widespread destruction.

ISLAMABAD: At least 15 cases of threats against journalists have been reported from Punjab, out of a total of 22 such incidents reported between April and June 2026. According to a review released by the Freedom Network on Tuesday as part of its quarterly assessment of threats to media and journalists in Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa saw the number of documented cases in the province fall from five in the first to three in the second quarter of the year. Sindh and Balochistan recorded one case each in both quarters, while Islamabad Capital Territory and Gilgit-Baltistan documented one case each during the second quarter. No verified incidents were reported from Azad Jammu and Kashmir this year. Freedom Network review finds growing role of state institutions in intimidation of media practitioners; those reporting on corruption, governance issues most susceptible to threats The documented cases covered a wide range of violations against journalists, including actual legal action (six), threat of legal action (fo...

LAHORE: The water level in the Chenab River is likely to surge significantly over the next couple of days following ongoing rains in catchment areas of Indian-occupied Kashmir and fresh spells of heavy rain in parts of Punjab. “At the moment, the Chenab River is flowing in medium flood. Its flow may surge and enter the high-flood category following forecasts of heavy rain over the next three to four days in both held Kashmir and Punjab,” a senior official of the Punjab Irrigation Department told Dawn on Monday. “The situation may turn critical if there are heavy rains, as predicted, in the catchment areas of held Kashmir and Punjab,” he added. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) issued a forecast of high flood levels in major rivers, including the Chenab, and nullahs due to heavy rains expected until July 24. According to the FFD’s Monday flood bulletin, the flows of all major rivers were likely to increase significantly by July 24 due to a prevailing westerly ...

Govt mulls imports as Punjab asks for 1m tonnes, Sindh seeks 220,000

A fresh monsoon weather system has entered Pakistan, with the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) forecasting light to heavy rainfall in Lahore and most districts of Punjab as authorities intensify preparedness measures ahead of the wet spell.

Warns of rising river levels from July 20-24, with flash floods and urban flooding expected across cities in Punjab

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday launched the Chief Minister Pink Salt Value Addition Financing Scheme, unveiling an ambitious initiative to transform Punjab’s vast pink salt reserves into a value-added export industry expected to generate thousands of jobs and significantly increase.

Armed men gunned down five workers hailing from Punjab in the Mashkail town of Balochistan’s Washuk district on Sunday, Deputy Commissioner Abdul Majeed Sarparah said. The incident occurred amid ongoing Operation Shaban and other counterterrorism operations in the province, in which the security forces have eliminated 109 terrorists since July 5. “The incident took place in Mashkail town close to the Pakistan-Iran border area, when armed men riding motorcycles opened fire on shops where the labourers from Punjab were working,” DC Sarparah told the media. Police officials said the five individuals suffered multiple bullet injuries and succumbed to their wounds on the spot. They added that after firing, the assailants escaped from the site. The officials said police and other security personnel rushed to the site soon after receiving information about the incident and shifted the bodies to the government health facility in Mashkail. After completing legal formalities, arrangements will be made to dispatch the w...

LAHORE - Punjab Information and Culture Minister Azma Bokhari on Saturday said that development, prosperity, and beautification are progressing simultaneously across Punjab under the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, with the pace of development projects now significantly faster than in previous years.

LAHORE: Human rights defenders and activists gathered at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Thursday to discuss the Punjab Control of Habitual Offenders and Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, 2026, raising concerns that, if implemented, the proposed law would turn the whole Punjab into an open jail. “The objective of the Bill is to stop any statements against the security forces, followed by a hierarchy of sensitivity. Azma Bokhari and Marriyum Aurangzeb had complaints written to the NCCIA, they went to high court, directions were issued to the NCCIA but they were not satisfied. The objectives they wanted to achieve against those who had made their memes or defamed them were not achieved,” says lawyer Asad Jamal. Those people, he said, were not punished by the NCCIA because it had its own limitations and objectives. “Now they want to establish a parallel institution in Punjab and they are moving towards it,” Jamal declared. Secondly, he added, the Crime Control Department (CCD) had brought a bad name to the ...