ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Sunday issued a grave warning of intensified monsoon activity, alerting that Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa face severe risks of cloudbursts, urban flooding, and river inundation as three major weather systems converge over Pakistan.
According to the NDMA, this year’s monsoon rainfall is expected to be 50–60pc higher than normal, with three more heavy spells likely through early September. Urban flooding threats loom large over Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Gujranwala, while northern areas face the additional dangers of landslides and flash floods. Besides KP and GB, districts in Sindh such as Tharparkar, Sujawal, Tando Allah Yar, Tando Muhammad Khan, and Badin are likely to experience intensified monsoon activity.
Meanwhile, search was still on for many of those missing as Rescue 1122 officials said they had recovered 373 bodies from the flood-hit areas across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with majority of them from Buner district. Rescue and search operation was underway in the affected areas in Buner and other districts where many people spent nights under the open sky after their homes were destroyed and their loved ones were killed by the floods after cloudburst and rains.
Sources said that death toll till Sunday night had risen to 540.
“The Rescue 1122 has recovered 373 bodies from all the flood-hit districts of the province till Sunday while rescue and search operation was still underway,” spokesman for Rescue 1122 Bilal Ahmad Faizi told The News. As many as 316 wounded were shifted to hospitals or provided emergency treatment.
The official said that around 5,212 people were rescued and shifted to safe places during the operation in which 1,778 personnel and 132 vehicles took part.
Moving scenes were witnessed when people buried their entire families in Pishunai and other most affected villages in Buner. Over 50 people were laid to rest in a single graveyard in the area.
According to the report of the PDMA, a total of 336 houses were damaged or destroyed due to rains and flash floods. Out of these 230 houses were partially destroyed and 106 houses were completely destroyed.
These incidents occurred in different districts including Swat, Buner, Bajaur, Torghar, Mansehra, Shangla and Battagram.
There was a forecast of heavy rains from August 17 to 19, while the current series of rains was likely to continue intermittently until August 21.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Sunday announced that the provincial government would fully compensate the people for the losses they had suffered in the floods.
“Unlike in the past, our government will fulfill every promise made to the flood victims,” he assured while speaking at a meeting in Swat after visiting Buner as part of his tour of flood-affected districts.
He chaired a meeting at the Malakand Division Commissioner’s office to review the situation caused by the recent floods.
The meeting was attended by provincial cabinet members Arshad Ayub Khan, Fazal Hakim Khan, Dr Amjad Ali, Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, and other senior officials.
The chief minister announced that the provincial government had released Rs3 billion for the Communication and Relief departments.
On the instructions of the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the supply of relief goods consisting of 89 trucks to the affected districts was completed.
The relief goods included tents, mattresses, beds, kitchen sets, tarpaulins, mats, mosquito nets, generators and other daily life items.
The PDMA has released Rs800 million as a relief fund for the district administrations of the affected districts.
A relief fund of Rs500 million was released to the administration of the most affected district Buner. The government officials were busy supervising the operations in the affected areas. Many organisations and individuals were busy providing food items, medicines, tents and other required essentials to the affected areas in Buner, Swat, Shangla, Bajaur, Dir, Mansehra and other districts. People were asked through social media to collect donations and provide it to the people in the flood-hit areas.
“All those coming to help the affected people should contact the government officials, reliable organisations or do it themselves on the spot to discourage the fraudsters that emerge during such times,” said an elder of Buner, Syed Saadat Jahan.
In Buner, the additional deputy commissioner was made focal person for the relief and rehabilitation activities and a cell was established under the official. The same was done in other districts.
The flood-affected residents staged a protest on Sunday to resent the denial of relief, non-cleaning of streets and lack of electricity and gas supply.
The people from Lundikx and Makanbagh in Mingora gathered on the Saidu Sharif Road and blocked the main thoroughfare to register their anger.
The protesters raised slogans against the government, saying that even after three days, they had received neither relief assistance nor cleanup of the streets and lanes.
They complained that their neighborhoods were without electricity and gas, while there was also an acute shortage of drinking water.
“Mud and sand have accumulated inside and outside our houses and streets, leaving us with nowhere to go,” said one of the protesters, adding that the administration and government had failed to provide relief or carry out cleaning work.
NDMA spokesperson Dr Muhammad Tayyab Shah cautioned the public against unnecessary travel in mountainous regions and said that all provincial departments were on high alert under the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast persistent heavy rainfall until August 22, with the monsoon remaining strong into September.
NDMA Chairman Lt-Gen Inam Haider revealed that torrential rains and flash floods have already caused over 400 fatalities across the country, including 313 deaths in Buner, Bajaur, and Battagram alone. Widespread destruction of homes, infrastructure and roads has left many families stranded, particularly in Gilgit-Baltistan and KP.
Authorities have imposed Section 144 in high-risk zones, including Rawalpindi’s Nullah Lai, to prevent casualties. Emergency teams and flood warning systems have been mobilised as water levels continue to rise in major rivers and reservoirs, with moderate flooding reported at Kalabagh, Chashma and stretches of the Indus River.
General Inam confirmed that the prime minister has ordered a nationwide damage survey and directed immediate relief operations, with food and aid supplies to reach affected districts from Monday. Restoration of communication links and roads remains the top priority, while rehabilitation efforts will follow once the monsoon subsides.
He stressed that the devastation reflects the impact of climate change, urging the nation to remain united in facing the crisis.
Also, on the directives of PM Shehbaz Sharif, the NDMA issued an advisory on Sunday restricting tourist activities in mountainous regions due to intensified monsoon activity.
The authority directed provincial administrations to impose curbs in disaster-affected areas to protect visitors from possible floods, landslides and other monsoon-related hazards. It said restrictions under Section 144 could be enforced where required, with law-enforcement agencies tasked to ensure strict implementation.
Separately, a mother and her daughter were killed on Sunday when a cloudburst triggered flash floods in Kateshu village of Kharmang district, bringing the overall death toll from torrential rains and floods across Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) to 14. Another woman was critically injured in the incident and shifted to hospital by locals, taking the toll of injured to 30 in flood related incidents.
Officials confirmed that Ghizer valley remains the worst affected, with Dain village completely washed away, while agricultural land, irrigation channels and water supply lines in multiple districts have suffered severe damage.
In Diamer district, a brother and sister remain missing after being swept away by a flood in Bonar Nala. Separately, eight volunteers sustained injuries in a landslide in Diamroi.
The natural disaster has also trapped groups of domestic tourists in Naltar valley near Gilgit, where road blockades caused by landslides cut off access. Rescue teams and locals have been mobilised to clear the route and provide assistance.
Meanwhile in Gilgit city, residents endured a third consecutive day of complete load-shedding on Sunday, prompting road blockades and street protests in several parts. Demonstrators demanded immediate restoration of power supply.
In Skardu, the civil administration and Pakistan Army restored the Skardu-Jaglot road at Bagicha within 18 hours of a bridge collapse, reconnecting the valley with the rest of the region. The ISPR said the operation, initially estimated to take days, was completed overnight.
Government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said relief and rehabilitation efforts are being jointly carried out by the provincial administration, Pakistan Army, GB Scouts, NDMA, Rescue 1122, and tourist police. Clean drinking water, power supply and irrigation restoration have been declared top priorities.
Faraq added that Rs970 million have been released for rehabilitation under the chief minister’s directives, while emergency projects worth Rs500 million are underway to restore damaged schemes.
Meanwhile, on the instructions of Federal Minister for Communications, the National Highway Authority (NHA) mobilised all resources for rehabilitation of national highways damaged by recent rains in the country’s northern regions. As part of this effort, NHA Chairman Shehryar Sultan spent three days in the field, leading relief and restoration operations. He is overseeing rehabilitation activities in KP, where multiple roads have been affected by rains and flooding.
The NHA chairman on Sunday visited Buner and held a meeting with deputy commissioner in his office along with senior NHA officers. He extended full support in restoration work and directed NHA officers to mobilise more machinery to accelerate pace of work. During his visit, he inspected the Nowshera-Chitral Highway (N-45) and issued on-site directives for its swift and complete restoration. He also visited the Chakdara-Khwazakhela Highway (N-95), viewed the flood-affected sections and instructed teams to expedite repair work.
In addition, he toured the Khwazakhela-Bisham Highway (N-90), reviewed the extent of damage and issued immediate instructions for its full restoration.
Meanwhile, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chalked out a plan to cope with any unexpected situation arising out of ongoing heavy rains spell in low-lying areas of Islamabad.
On the directions of Chief Commissioner Islamabad/CDA Chairman, Muhammad Ali Randhawa, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (General), along with DG Rescue 1122 Islamabad, Director Machinery Pool Organisation (MPO), representatives from Solid Waste Management Directorate and Road and Marketing, conducted visits to low-lying and critical areas including Saidpur Village and Chattha Bakhtawar in view of the forecast monsoon rain spell.
Meanwhile, the Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan, under the supervision of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, dispatched a consignment of relief goods loaded in 21 trucks worth Rs100 million for flood-affected areas of Buner, Bajaur and Swat on Sunday.