By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s disaster management authority has issued a high alert for flash floods, urban flooding and landslides across large swathes of the country, after monsoon rains killed at least a dozen more people in the northwest over a single 24-hour period, pushing the nationwide death toll for the season past 50.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said a strong monsoon system, interacting with an approaching westerly wave, was expected to bring widespread rain — including isolated spells of heavy to very heavy downpours — across Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, Punjab and the northeast of Balochistan between Tuesday and Friday. The authority warned the system was likely to trigger rapid rises in river flows, flash flooding in hill torrents and seasonal streams, and urban flooding in low-lying parts of several cities.
“A strong monsoon incursion interacting with an approaching westerly wave is expected to affect the catchments of all major rivers during July 20-24,” the NDMA said in its alert, adding that flows in the Chenab River at Marala and the Jhelum upstream of Mangla could reach high flood levels. The authority also cautioned that the Ravi and Sutlej rivers could see increased flows depending on releases from India’s Thein, Pong and Bhakra reservoirs upstream.
Urban flooding was flagged as a particular risk for Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Khushab, Sialkot, Gujrat, Narowal, Lahore, Okara, Chakwal and Attock. Rain had already fallen heavily on Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Murree on Monday, leaving low-lying areas of the twin cities under water.
A separate landslide alert was issued for Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and for mountainous parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, running from Tuesday to Thursday, with several key mountain roads — including sections of the Jaglot-Skardu road — considered vulnerable to rockfalls and debris flows. On Monday, three workers were killed and a further three injured when a landslide struck them in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Nagar district.
Deadliest toll yet in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The alert follows the bloodiest few days of the monsoon season so far in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province hit hardest by this year’s rains. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said 12 people were killed and 18 injured in the province between Sunday and Tuesday, as torrential rain continued to fall across much of the region.
Five men, two women and five children were among the dead, the PDMA said. Half of the fatalities were recorded in Khyber district, where a vehicle carrying Afghan families was swept away in a flash flood on Monday. Two children died in Mardan and a man was killed in Peshawar over the same period.
Ten men, four women and four children were injured across the province during the three-day spell, with Khyber again accounting for roughly half the casualties, followed by Mardan, where five people were hurt, and Torghar, where four were injured. Four animals also died, in Upper Dir, Abbottabad and Buner.
Three houses were completely destroyed and 15 more partially damaged, according to PDMA figures. The authority said homes had also been damaged in Peshawar, Khyber, Mardan, Buner, Bajaur, Lower Chitral, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Tor Ghar and Kurram districts, and put the province’s monsoon death toll at 35 since the season began in late June — a figure that authorities said was likely to be revised further as damage assessments continued.
Power cut to nearly 150 feeders
The rain has also taken a heavy toll on the electricity network in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) said power supply to 148 feeders had been disrupted across the province, after rain fell continuously for 12 hours in Peshawar, Khyber, Mardan, Swabi and Swat.
Peshawar Circle bore the brunt of the disruption, with 71 feeders affected, followed by Khyber with 33, Mardan with 22, Swabi with 12 and Swat with 10. Several areas of Peshawar itself — including Gulberg, University Town, Cantt, Warsak and Shabqadar — were left without power, with a Pesco spokesperson saying continuing rain was hampering restoration work.
“Pesco staff worked through the night and have restored power to 42 feeders,” the spokesperson said, adding that Pesco chief executive Akhtar Hamid Khan had directed operational teams to remain on high alert and that all necessary equipment had been made available to speed up repairs.
A pattern authorities say is worsening
The NDMA has directed provincial and district administrations to keep rivers and streams under continuous watch, pre-position emergency response teams and relief supplies in vulnerable areas, and has urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel to flood-prone and mountainous regions. It has also asked people to steer clear of rivers and streams during periods of strong water flow, and encouraged the public to follow updates through its official Pak NDMA Disaster Alert app.
Pakistan experiences monsoon rains every year between June and September, but officials and climate scientists say the weather has become markedly more erratic and intense in recent years, driving up the risk of flash flooding, landslides and infrastructure damage — particularly across the country’s mountainous north and northwest. Last year’s monsoon season saw severe riverine flooding across Punjab, Pakistan’s agricultural heartland, after heavy rain combined with high river flows to damage crops, homes and infrastructure across the province.
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