Punjab | Pakistan

• PPP leaders insist BISP data best suited for flood relief • Maryam says Punjab is working while other provinces are busy criticising it • 2,200 survey teams with 10,000 personnel from army, other depts deployed in the province • Azma Bokhari threatens to sue Nadeem Afzal Chan over loan claim ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: As the Punjab government on Saturday launched a survey to assess the losses caused by recent floods, the PPP urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to accept its demand for providing immediate relief to the flood-affected people through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The PML-N and the PPP — coalition partners at the Centre and in Punjab — have been at odds over how to help the flood victims, with the former’s government in Punjab insisting on using its own resources, while the latter is adamant about channelling the aid through the BISP. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, PPP Secretary General Humayun Khan, Senator Palwasha Khan and the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leader Muhammad Ali...

• PM doubles compensation for families of victims to Rs2m • 161,000 houses, 395 health facilities damaged in Punjab, UNOCHA says • Senate panel told deluges left 1,000 dead, millions displaced ISLAMABAD: As millions of people have been affected and hundreds of casualties reported across the country during the recent floods and monsoon rains, the prime minister has raised the ex-gratia assistance for the next of kin of those who lost their lives from Rs1 million to Rs2m. More than 4.2 million people in 18 districts of Punjab have been affected by the recent floods, with Muzaffargarh alone accounting for over a quarter of the total, according to a Rapid Needs Assessment (RNA) report released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). Muzaffargarh, located on the bank of the Chenab River, is followed by Jhang with 646,000 affected people (15.3 per cent), Bahawalpur with 514,000 (12.2pc), Khanewal with 397,000 (9.4pc), and Multan with 347,000 (8.2pc). Other affected distri...

Earthquake tremors were felt in several parts of Pakistan, including Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad, on Friday morning.

The federal government has approved the deployment of the Pakistan Army in Punjab to assist in assessing flood damages across the province.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that the Punjab government would enact new law aimed at eliminating land grabbing, particularly from orphans, widows, and underprivileged citizens across the province.

• Rs1m for destroyed, Rs500,000 for partially damaged houses • Farmers to receive Rs20,000 per acre of submerged land, Rs500,000 for each head of cattle lost • ‘Relief cards’ planned to avoid long queues at aid centres • Jalalpur residents say govt focused on saving motorway, neglecting villages • Dozens of Jamshoro villages affected; funeral procession negotiates floodwaters in Manjhand LAHORE / DADU: The Punjab government on Tuesday announced a relief package for people affected by recent floods, but stopped short of giving a date for its distribution. “A sum of Rs1 million will be given to the owner of a destroyed house and Rs500,000 for partially damaged houses,” Punjab Inform­ation Minister Azma Bokhari told a press conference. She said that farmers whose land had been submerged would receive Rs20,000 per acre, while compensation of Rs500,000 would be provided for each cow or buffalo lost. “All these payments are being made from the Punjab government’s own resources without seeking external aid,” she sai...

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik visited flood-affected areas of Punjab on Tuesday, where he reviewed ongoing relief operations and assessed the scale of damage.

The devastation caused by ongoing floods continues to grip Punjab, as wheat worth millions of rupees was destroyed in Multan and a widow with six children was left homeless in Uch Sharif after losing her husband and belongings to the floodwaters.

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has arrested 89 terrorists in 940 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) launched across Punjab over the past three months, the department said in a statement on Monday. There has been a recent uptick in terror attacks in Pakistan over the past year. The CTD regularly carries out operations to prevent and investigate terrorism-related activities and gather intelligence. During the three months, 14 terrorists were arrested in Lahore, 14 in Rawalpindi, seven each in Faisalabad and Bahawalpur, six each in Jhang and Sargodha, five in Sahiwal, four from Gujranwala and three each from Bahawalnagar and Gujrat, the statement read. “Of the arrested terrorists, 55 belong to Fitna al Khawarij, five are from ISIS (Islamic State), and two each are from Al-Qaeda, Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Jeay Sindh,” the statement added. The state uses the term Fitna al Khawarij to refer to terrorists of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to the CTD, items seized during the raids include 2...

Flooding in the Sutlej River continues to devastate southern Punjab, destroying hundreds of homes, displacing families, and claiming lives across multiple districts.

Seven people, including five children, died when the roof of a room in a house collapsed in the Farooq Azam neighbourhood of Punjab’s Hafizabad district on Saturday, according to police. Hafizabad District Police Officer (DPO) Atif Nazir Kadhar said in a statement that a woman and her son were holding tuition classes in the affected house when the room’s roof collapsed. “As a result, the woman, her son and five children who were taking tuition classes died.” The statement said DPO Kadhar reached the site after receiving information about the incident and oversaw the rescue work. According to data shared by the Rescue 1122, one child also suffered a critical head injury in the incident. Last month, three members of a family died after the roof of their under-construction house caved-in in the Islampura locality of Nankana Sahib in Punjab. Earlier in July, two children had died and two other were injured when the roof of a house collapsed in Lahore’s Badami Bagh. The incident had taken place reportedly due to t...

LAHORE: The Punjab government’s support for a controversial YouTuber — who recently sparked outrage with remarks aimed at Sindh — has not only angered the PPP but also triggered a war of words between the two coalition partners on social media. A Senate standing committee recently summoned YouTuber Rizwan Razi, also known as Razi Dada, and grilled him for making derogatory remarks about the people of Sindh. The panel subsequently directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block his YouTube channel over what it termed “hate speech” against the people of Sindh. Committee members also questioned how a presenter who appeared on the state-run PTV News could make such remarks on his personal YouTube channel. In one of his recent vlogs, Razi considered close to the CM made unsavoury, racist remarks. CM Maryam backs Razi’s apology after PPP terms his remarks a slight to Sindh However, the Punjab government and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz openly came out in support of Razi, with a social media campaign...

• Despite official denials, checkpoints set up at province’s exit points to curtail movement • Flour prices in KP jump 68pc; 20kg bag hits Rs2,800 • KP Assembly passes unanimous resolution against Punjab’s move LAHORE: Punjab’s unannounced ban on the interprovincial movement of wheat has ignited a new crisis, causing a severe flour shortage and soaring prices in other provinces. The move has drawn sharp criticism from politicians and flour millers who argue it violates constitutional rights and a recent deregulation agreement. While Punjab officials de­n­ied a formal ban, they acknowledged establishing checkpoints to curb what they termed “unusual” whe­at movement. Critics, however, argued that these mea­sures are against the spirit of a deregulated market. The ban has been met with strong condemnation from other provinces, particularly Khyber Pakhtu­nkhwa and Sindh, which heavily depend on Punj­ab’s wheat supply. The All-Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) has labelled the policy unconstitutional, citing...

Floodwaters in Punjab have begun to recede, but restoration work remains stalled, leaving homes, crops, and infrastructure in ruins across several districts.

The 11th spell of monsoon rainfall across Punjab begins today (Tuesday) and is expected to continue until September 19, bringing the possibility of moderate to heavy showers in various parts of the province.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has said that the recent floods have inflicted Rs50 billion in losses on Punjab’s economy.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Navy continues relief and rescue operations in flood-affected areas of Punjab and Sindh Province.

• PDMA puts Punjab death toll at 97; 2.45m displaced from 4,500 villages along Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej • Evacuations continue as overflowing Indus submerges 30 villages in Dadu • 19 controlled breaches made to save Jalalpur and Alipur; efforts on to plug Shujabad breach • Flood-hit areas without electricity, cellular coverage; drones used to deliver food to the stranded LAHORE: Evacuation eff­orts continued across central and south Punjab as exceptionally high flood levels persist between the Panjnad confluence of Chenab-Ravi-Sutlej and Guddu Barrage in Sindh, creating a severe humanitarian crisis, inundating low-lying areas, displacing large populations, and destroying hundreds of acres of standing crops. The overflowing Indus has also inundated parts of Sindh, with areas in Dadu and Lar­kana witnessing widespread displacement in riverine areas. Residents of flood-hit areas are also facing widespread electricity and mobile service outages, leaving them cut off from authorities and relatives, while trapped by...

Multiple users on X, including PTI supporters, shared on Thursday a photo of children lying on top of wooden sticks surrounded by water, claiming that they were flood victims in Punjab. However, the image is at least five years old. Pakistan was hit by massive floods in August this year, which have claimed over 842 lives, displaced 1.2 million people, affected more than 4m, mainly in Punjab, and threatened economic losses between $6–10 billion thus far. Currently, South Punjab is in the throes of the devastating flood crisis, with districts such as Multan, Bahawalpur, and Dera Ghazi Khan inundated, leaving millions of residents affected and 1,400 villages submerged under 5–10 feet of water. On Thursday, a photo showing two children lying on a pile of sticks and debris surrounded by what looked like floodwater was shared by a verified X account, which seemed to be of a PPP supporter from previous posts. The caption of the post said: “You should have seen us during our prosperous times. We had our own homes and...

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has issued a detailed report revealing the severe impact of ongoing floods across Punjab, where millions have been displaced and emergency relief operations continue.