NEW DELHI/LAHORE — Intense monsoon rains have unleashed flash floods and landslides across northern India and eastern Pakistan, killing at least 32 people in Indian-controlled Kashmir and displacing more than 150,000 residents in Pakistan’s Punjab province, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Deaths in Indian-controlled Kashmir
According to the Press Trust of India, torrential rains triggered a landslide along a Hindu pilgrimage route in Jammu, part of Indian-controlled Kashmir. At least 32 people were killed, though the exact timeframe of the fatalities remains unclear. Several others are still missing as rescue workers search through debris.
Mass displacement in Pakistan
Across the border in Pakistan, six districts in Punjab province — including Kasur, Okara, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Vehari and Sialkot — have been inundated after swollen rivers breached their banks. The Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers are all at dangerously high levels following days of relentless downpours and India’s release of water from overflowing dams.
Overnight, rescuers evacuated 20,000 people from areas around Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city. “Floodwaters are rising rapidly. Entire villages are submerged, and evacuations are still underway,” said Irfan Ali Kathia, director-general of the Punjab Disaster Management Authority.
Authorities have requested army assistance in the hardest-hit areas. Boats are being used to ferry people from submerged homes, while relief camps are distributing tents and food supplies.
Rising toll and regional tensions
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised local officials for preventing even greater casualties through timely evacuations but warned that relief operations must continue as heavy rains are forecast through the week.
Tensions have also surfaced over water management. India warned Pakistan of potential flooding via diplomatic channels rather than through the Indus Waters Commission, a mechanism set up under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. India suspended cooperation after a deadly April incident in Kashmir, though Islamabad has rejected New Delhi’s unilateral move.
Climate-driven disaster fears
The flooding compounds what has already been a deadly monsoon season across South Asia. Nearly 100 people have died in August in the Himalayan region alone, while in Pakistan more than 800 lives have been lost since late June.
The devastation comes on the heels of a catastrophic 2022 flood in Pakistan that killed 1,739 people and submerged one-third of the country. Scientists warn climate change is fueling heavier, less predictable monsoon rains, raising fears of more extreme weather disasters in the years ahead.