Lahore experienced its heaviest rainfall in decades, causing severe flooding. Floods brought by torrential rains resulted in 30 deaths and 18 injuries across the country this week during the ongoing monsoon spell.
Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) confirmed that the provincial capital of Punjab received almost 360 millimeters of rain in just three hours, surpassing the previous record of 332 millimeters in July 1980. “The 44-year-old rainfall record was broken in Lahore once again,” Punjab province officials said.
“This was record-breaking rainfall,” said Farooq Dar, the agency’s deputy director.
Emergency response teams, including the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), and the district administration, have been working tirelessly to manage the monsoon rains. Senior Punjab Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb supervised drainage operations and ensured the availability of water pumps and necessary machinery. Hospitals have been stocked with medicines and vaccines for poisonous insect bites.
“In the last 24 hours, Gujranwala recorded 123mm, Narowal 70mm, Kasur 62mm, Hafizabad 23mm, and Sialkot 11mm of rain,” the Punjab PDMA reported.
Rescue 1122 services reported that a minor girl died and five others were rescued from a collapsed makeshift roof near Bulleh Shah Interchange. Additionally, a 30-year-old man died of electrocution near Nishat Colony, and two men were injured when the wooden roof of their house collapsed.
The ongoing monsoon spell lashed Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and eastern Punjab provinces with heavy rains and flash floods over the last three days.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of KP reported that 24 people died and 17 were injured due to accidents caused by the recent rains. In Punjab, the PDMA mentioned the deaths of three people in Lahore and injuries to one person.
The torrential rains damaged 150 houses in KP, with 77 partially damaged and 73 destroyed. In Punjab, local media showed footage of flooded roads, houses, and hospitals in Lahore.
The monsoon season, crucial for Pakistan’s agriculture, has been increasingly disrupted by unprecedented cloudbursts driven by climate change. The National Disaster Management Authority had warned earlier this week that strong monsoon currents from the Bay of Bengal would trigger heavy rains and flash floods in Punjab, Azad Kashmir, Sindh, and KP provinces.
The PDMA has forecasted that monsoon rains will continue until August 6, with a high risk of flooding in the Indus and Chenab Rivers.