Category: 1. Pakistan

ISLAMABAD:

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that Pakistan failed to develop investable flood-related projects to benefit from the $11 billion pledged at the Geneva conference nearly three years ago, a lapse that highlights the gap between the government’s desire to secure aid and its ability to effectively use it.

The minister was speaking at a conference on “Building a Resilient Public Financial Management Ecosystem” organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), on a day when heavy rains inundated parts of Punjab.

The province is facing an unprecedented flood emergency triggered by torrential rains and India’s release of water.

“Let’s accept that we could not come up with investable projects” to make use of the billions pledged in Geneva, Aurangzeb said. He questioned whether national institutions had learned any lessons from the devastation of the 2022 floods, once again stressing that Pakistan faces two existential threats, climate change and the exploding population bomb.

The 2022 floods caused damage estimated at $30 billion, including reconstruction costs. Aurangzeb noted that the current floods are again expected to cause billions of dollars in damage.

His remarks came a day after the Economic Affairs Ministry submitted a report to the Public Accounts Committee on the utilisation of flood pledges, showing that against $6.4 billion pledged for project financing, actual disbursements were only $2.8 billion.

The foreign lenders had committed a total $11 billion, out of which $4.6 billion was for oil financing and the remaining $6.4 billion had been given for spending on the rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The details showed that the World Bank pledged $2.2 billion and has so far disbursed $1.6 billion. The Asian Development Bank committed $1.6 billion but has so far released $513 million. Likewise, China and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) pledged $1.1 billion, but so far gave only $250 million in the absence of any credible financing projects.

The Islamic Development Bank promised to give $600 million but released $231 million. Paris Club countries pledged nearly $800 million but released $139 million. The United States promised to give $100 million and gave $70 million.

Meanwhile, heavy rains in the upper catchment of the Chenab River have swelled downstream flows, putting thousands of citizens at risk. Based on input from India, the Ministry of Water Resources issued flood alerts for the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab rivers.

Aurangzeb warned that unless Pakistan took the challenges of population growth and climate change seriously, it would fail to achieve its vision of becoming a $3 trillion economy by 2047, the centenary of the nation’s independence.

ICAP Recommendations

At the conclusion of the conference, ICAP presented recommendations to strengthen Pakistan’s public financial management.

It has recommended restructuring the National Finance Commission award, saying that the current award has given birth to unsustainable fiscal imbalances.

The biggest issue is the expenditure, and the federal government is still spending Rs1.2 trillion annually on the subjects that fall in the provincial domain, said Shahid Kardar, former Governor State Bank of Pakistan, while speaking during the conference.

Kardar further added that the International Monetary Fund had a misplaced focus on the tax-to-GDP ratio and the primary balance, which ignores the issue of expenditures in areas that are not the responsibility of the federal government.

The pension liabilities of the federal and the provincial governments have surged to a record Rs33 trillion, excluding the liabilities of firms like power distribution companies, Railways and PIA, said Kardar.

Muhammad Aurangzeb said that in the first phase, the government has stopped bleeding, as from July last year, the new recruitments in the public sector are on the basis of a contributory pension system.

The conference also recommended strengthening the FBR by freeing it from external influences. There have been many entities that are advising the FBR with no real outcomes, like the IMF, the World Bank, the ADB, Mackenzie and the United Kingdom under its REMIT project.

ICAP President Saifullah said that only the annual cost of tax exemptions was Rs5.8 trillion, while the accumulated losses by the state-owned enterprises have increased to Rs6 trillion.

He said that the economy has stabilised, but the real issues like SOEs reforms, resolution of the circular debt and privatisation remain unaddressed. The fiscal buffers are weak, the privatisation has been stalled, and the tax-to-GDP ratio is stuck at 10%.

“Our headline may sound positive, but the foundation remains shaky”, the ICAP president said.

He reaffirmed ICAP’s commitment to fostering transparency and strengthening institutional capacity across Pakistan’s public sector.

Khalid Rahman, chairman ICAP Public Sector Committee and Council Member, termed the ICAP conference a milestone in advancing Pakistan’s fiscal governance and institutional resilience.

ISLAMABAD: Former air chief Sohail Aman has said that a dangerous disconnect persists between the global quest for peace and India’s active pursuit of conflict with Pakistan.

He warned that it would be fundamentally wrong for anyone to assume that Pakistan would not respond to provocations or military aggression from India.

Addressing the Thought Leaders Forum (TLF) under the auspices of ISSI on Wednesday, Sohail recalled that “Marka-e-Haq” and Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos had marked a fundamental transformation towards multi-domain warfare, where Pakistan innovatively employed air power alongside precision strikes and cyber disruption.

He stressed that India’s misperception — that Pakistan would not respond — was reckless and had been firmly dispelled by Pakistan’s robust military and national response. He rejected India’s false narrative of having confronted a joint China-Pakistan force, describing it as a face-saving measure.

According to him, a technologically advanced and operationally superior Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had decisively outperformed its numerically larger Indian counterpart.

While acknowledging that nuclear deterrence held during the crisis, Sohail cautioned against India’s misguided belief that there is space for a limited conventional war under the nuclear threshold. He warned that although a nuclear exchange remains unlikely, the risk of uncontrolled escalation cannot be ruled out. He underscored that it was therefore essential to ensure Pakistan’s clearly defined red lines are not crossed. He concluded that the region’s future peace depends on dialogue, diplomacy, and the resolution of disputes such as Kashmir, along with prioritising economic development, stability, trade, and connectivity.

Former foreign secretary and DG ISSI Ambassador Sohail Mahmood described “Marka-e-Haq” as the latest manifestation of Pakistan’s resolute defence against Indian aggression, during which the armed forces, with the united backing of the nation, had thwarted India’s reprehensible designs and successfully defended the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He said the crisis was triggered by the BJP regime, driven by a toxic mix of Hindutva ideology, electoral calculations, presumptions of military and technological superiority, misguided war-fighting doctrines, quest for regional hegemony, and hubris. Ambassador Sohail underlined that throughout the crisis and the actual conflict in May 2025, Pakistan had prevailed across all key domains — diplomatic, military, and informational — with the PAF demonstrating its prowess in what has been termed the largest air battle in history, downing at least six Indian fighter jets.

Pakistan’s calibrated response, Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, had represented a decisive shift towards integrated multi-domain warfare by combining drone operations, precision strikes, cyber disruption, and joint command and control.

Ambassador Sohail Mahmood cautioned, however, that the situation remains fragile as India maintains that there is only a pause and that Operation Sindoor continues in different forms. He warned of the dangers in India’s belief in limited conventional war under the nuclear threshold, stressing that for strategic stability, India must be disabused of this false notion.

ISLAMABAD: As the government plans to launch the inaugural Panda Bond by the end of current calendar year, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday pledged its readiness to assist in the launch as well as other innovative financing instruments.

The ADB president expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s economic reforms and resilience, commending the progress achieved in stabilizing the economy and advancing structural reforms.

A meeting was held on Wednesday between Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, and Masato Kanda, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), at the Finance Division, where both sides reaffirmed mutual commitment to advancing the partnership in the years ahead.

ADB revises Pakistan’s FY2025 growth to 2.7% amid uptick in industry & services

He assured ADB’s continued support in key areas including climate change adaptation, population challenges, infrastructure development, and resource mobilization.

He also welcomed Pakistan’s efforts towards market diversification and pledged ADB’s readiness to assist in the launch of the inaugural Panda Bond and other innovative financing instruments.

Kanda reaffirmed ADB’s willingness to partner with Pakistan on its reform agenda, emphasizing that ADB would continue to work closely with the Government of Pakistan to ensure sustained progress and prosperity.

The Finance Minister conveyed gratitude for ADB’s expression of solidarity and reiterated Pakistan’s determination to build climate resilience and strengthen disaster preparedness in the aftermath of recent floods.

The minister also expressed his gratitude to the ADB President for prioritizing Pakistan and choosing to visit it as the first country after assuming office, recalling with appreciation his earlier meetings with the President in Washington in April this year. The Finance Minister also appreciated the ADB country team led by Emma Fan for their constructive engagement and continued support extended to the Ministry of Finance and the Government of Pakistan in advancing economic reforms and development priorities.

The Finance Minister highlighted Pakistan’s steady economic progress despite multiple challenges in recent years. He underlined that Pakistan had successfully stabilized its macroeconomic framework, with inflation declining sharply, a turnaround in the current account, and recent upgrades in Pakistan’s sovereign ratings by international credit agencies, which have helped lower the cost of borrowing.

The minister acknowledged ADB’s continued and substantial support to Pakistan in recent years, pointing to the Bank’s strong backing for reforms in resource mobilization, women’s financial inclusion, disaster risk financing, and the clean energy transition. He also recognized the ADB’s contributions to strengthening Pakistan’s agriculture insurance, transport and connectivity infrastructure, and ongoing support for building resilience in the financial sector.

The Finance Minister underscored Pakistan’s priorities for deeper collaboration with the ADB across key areas, including energy transition, climate resilience, transport and logistics, human capital development, and resource mobilization.

He welcomed the ADB’s strong medium-term commitment to Pakistan and encouraged enhanced collaboration in policy-based financing, capital markets development, private sector participation, and innovative instruments such as Green Bonds, blended finance, and Debt-for-Nature swaps. He also emphasized the importance of ADB’s partnership in supporting the government’s PPP pipeline and sectoral reforms to build long-term resilience.

The Finance Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong commitment to reforms in taxation, tariff rationalization, SOE restructuring, and regulatory modernization, while appreciating ADB’s role as a dependable and long-standing development partner. He extended an invitation for enhanced collaboration under the upcoming ADB Country Partnership Strategy 2026–35, aligned with Pakistan’s medium-term development priorities.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Ministry of Finance, Federal Board of Revenue, Ministry of Economic Affairs and the senior management team from the ADB, including Emma Fan, Country Director ADB Pakistan, Leah Gutierrez, Director General Central and West Asia Regional Department, and Noor Ahmed, Pakistan’s Executive Director to the ADB.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

PUNJAB is reeling from massive flooding triggered by a combination of torrential rains and excess water released by India from the Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers.

The three eastern rivers — allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty — are now experiencing medium to exceptionally high floods, with forecasts of more rain across several districts of the province, particularly in the catchment zones of the flooded areas.

A major rescue operation has been launched, with over 200,000 people evacuated and relocated to relief camps for medical care, food and other essential services since mid-August. Army troops have been deployed in at least eight districts to assist the civil authorities in moving residents to safety as floodwaters surge downstream, devastating hundreds of villages along the way.

Officials have warned that very high to exceptionally high flooding could hit multiple districts, including Lahore, in the next few days as water levels in the three rivers continue to rise. Besides riverine flooding, major cities such as Sialkot, Gujrat, Rawalpindi and Lahore have been battered by urban flooding caused by intense downpours. The extent of damage to crops, infrastructure, livestock, homes and other assets is yet to be fully assessed. But initial estimates suggest the losses are in billions of rupees.

The devastation of recent days exposes the provincial authorities’ weak state of preparedness, despite repeated warnings of unusually heavy rains and excess water releases by India, whose upstream river catchment areas have also received torrential downpours.

The situation exposes the ruling elite’s deep indifference towards the flood-vulnerable communities. This was underscored by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s decision to visit Japan and Thailand — accompanied by her core team, including senior provincial bureaucrats as well as family members — at such a crucial time, instead of staying back to lead the response and devise a strategy to tackle the emerging crisis.

This attitude has justifiably earned the Punjab government much criticism. That said, the growing severity and frequency of floods with each passing year calls for holistic, integrated planning across governance structures to build resilience and preparedness to proactively mitigate the impact on vulnerable populations.

No doubt, Punjab, like the rest of Pakistan, is trying to deal with the challenge of climate change, the main trigger of extreme weather events across the country. But climate change alone is not responsible. Unplanned urbanisation, deforestation, an inadequate flood-resilient infrastructure, poor river management, etc, have all aggravated the situation.

The lesson is unmistakable: floods can no longer be dismissed as merely a by-product of climate change. Unless Punjab starts investing in climate-resilient infrastructure and adopts effective adaptation strategies, it will not be able to build the capacity it needs to minimise the impact of the devastation.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2025

THE timing of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s lament that Pakistan has not drawn any lessons from previous climate-triggered disasters coincides with the launch of the 11th National Finance Commission on the distribution of resources between the federal and provincial governments.

Both exercises will need to converge on the local sources of Pakistan’s climate vulnerability and financing. The seesawing between the federation and provinces over the distribution of finances has cast a dark shadow over national climate and economic vulnerabilities. With the cost of reconstruction, development, debt and defence increasing, the resource trickle is dwindling further. Are there any lessons in the NFC awards to help respond to the PM’s lament?

Climate vulnerability at the district level has three basic drivers:

Population growth: In what constitutes Pakistan today, the population has exploded from 33.7 million in 1951 to 242.7m in 2025, and is projected to reach 380-403m by 2050, making it the world’s third most populous nation. This demographic explosion, coupled with economic stagnation and declining per capita income, creates escalating climate vulnerability.

Currently, 108m people, or 42.3 per cent of the population, according to a recent World Bank study, live below the poverty line with limited adaptive capacity.

Under business-as-usual scenarios, 190-200m people could be in poverty by 2050 — nearly half the projected population. In brief, every other child born in Pakistan will now be born to families below the poverty line — leaving them unable to afford climate adaptation and disaster recovery. This vast population spread in the high-risk areas of 169 districts with about 1,200 tehsils represents Pakistan’s most critical vulnerability driver.

Are there any lessons in the NFC awards to help respond to the PM’s lament?

Disproportionate exposure: The second key driver is the disproportionate concentration of the poor in high-risk areas. Data shows that in recent years, 18-26 districts have faced droughts in Balochistan and Sindh, 18 faced glacial lake outburst floods in Gilgit-Baltistan and KP, six faced tropical storms in Sindh and Balochistan and 84 districts were hit by floods across the provinces, not to mention urban flooding, forest fires, landslides and cloudbursts. Each district is exposed to two or more types of climate disasters.

The vulnerable populations are clustered in regions that are most susceptible to climate shocks, including low-lying floodplains, marginalised farmland and unauthorised settlements on riverbeds and urban peripheries. This geographical alignment guarantees that in the event of a climate disaster, the poor are hit first and the hardest, as their settlements are the most exposed and least resilient.

Limited adaptive capacity: Finally, low per capita income severely limits the adaptive capacity of our population. With a 2024 GDP per capita of just $1,485, and projections suggesting a decline to $1,200-$1,300 by 2050, the poor have virtually no financial buffer to absorb climate shocks.

The massive economic losses from climate events further drain resources, making it nearly impossible for individuals to invest in their assets: housing, livestock, standing crops, lives and microenterprises. This lack of financial capacity creates a vicious cycle of poverty and disaster.

Against this backdrop, what lessons can be drawn to respond to the PM’s remarks?

Incremental changes: Some answers by policy managers can be inferred: more resources for infrastructure to fill the financial gaps for recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation from previous disasters; early warning systems; financing for the staggering 1,071 pending PC-1s; and upgradation of equipment or building new infrastructure. Other important elements include improved inter-agency cooperation, capacity-building, and access to international climate finance.

Many of these won’t be new lessons, but it is still important for each agency to develop and share its lessons. While these needs are necessary for government efficiency, where are the transformative lessons?

Transformative changes: Several initiatives remain trapped in approval processes: promoting land-use planning to guide human settlements away from low-lying flood-prone regions to designated safer areas; adaptive social protection to invest precious resources in damage prevention rather than post-disaster recovery; creation of sub-national disaster risk financing facilities; adoption of resilient construction standards; mandatory insurance for public sector infrastructure in PC-1 proposals; risk transfer and insurance mechanisms to prevent governments from harvesting unspent funds from development projects; and earnest implementation of climate risk screening for public sector portfolios.

The delays in their operationalisation and absence of prioritisation erode the synergistic impact necessary for transformative change. All of them, however, establish project-level, not policy-level, programmatic and strategic direction for our safe journey into the future.

Four transformative lessons: Pakistan’s climate adaptation demands structural governance transformation. Top-down interventions have failed to generate ownership. Globally, bottom-up initiatives by elected local governments increase implementation and accountability systems. Four key lessons emerge from entrusting district-level decision-making.

First, local communities, and not distant bureaucrats, must manage land-use planning at the tehsil and district levels. Second, locally developed zoning laws must protect shamilaat, communal and state lands from vested interests and ban high-risk development. Third, reclamation of the encroached commons must be achieved through local-level resilience management action plans that restore the natural flood management capacity. Fourth, districts must develop asset inventories as revenue sources using credible valuation mechanisms for standardised property assessments.

Given this scale, it’s the right time to establish a ‘National Reclamation Commission’ to develop a national framework and provincial guidelines for local actions.

Learning challenge: Learning is expensive. To learn from climate disasters, Pakistan must ‘unlearn’ destructive practices: ending floodplain encroachment and not treating communal lands as private profit centres. This process can be negotiated but requires decisive political pushback against powerful networks.

Despite decades of disasters, Pakistan repeats its mistakes: allowing encroachment, enabling elite capture, treating prevention as an expense rather than an investment. Lessons remain unlearned because learning requires confronting power, not merely studying flood patterns or providing relief assistance.

True climate adaptation demands political consensus and the courage to implement what we already know but refuse to do. Let the NFC award spearhead this transformation.

The writer is a climate change and sustainable development expert.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2025

THERE was a sense of déjà vu when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday ‘formally’ launched Pakistan’s New Energy Vehicle Policy 2025-30. The same policy had, after all, been ‘officially’ launched on June 19, according to a PID press release issued on the same date. Perhaps the government is so enamoured with this achievement that it felt it necessary to talk about it twice. All that seemed different this time was the presence of the prime minister and his gifts. He handed over several electric scooters to high-achieving Intermediate students, promising more in the years to come. His office insisted that this event formally marked the effective date of the NEV policy. All this is well and good: one hopes that the actual policy will yield its intended benefits. The last attempt to formalise Pakistan’s approach to NEVs quickly fell apart. Launched in 2019 by the PTI government, the previous policy was abandoned due to the upheaval caused by Covid-19. Now, the government has reworked it and presented it as a means to save billions annually on petroleum imports and reduce urban air pollution, “which costs us over Rs105bn in healthcare and productivity losses”.

These are noble aims, indeed. The NEV policy’s ambition also deserves to be applauded: it aims for 30pc of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030, and sets an even more enterprising goal of 90pc by 2040. If these benchmarks can be achieved, it would mean this government would have triggered an energy revolution as significant as Pakistan’s globally celebrated transition to solar energy. However, many concerns remain about the policy’s viability. The key question is whether vehicle manufacturers will pass on real incentives to consumers, or repeat the industry’s old practice of maintaining high margins and giving minimal thought to the environmental impact of their activities. Unless the value proposition of NEVs becomes clear to consumers, those targets will prove difficult to attain. A key concern will be the quality of batteries sold in Pakistan, which the government must consider regulating. Charging infrastructure and battery-swapping facilities will also require sustained investment over a long period of time. Therefore, instead of grand events to celebrate NEVs, what Pakistan needs more is commitment and consistency. It has sown the seeds; now it must water the soil and hope it bears fruit.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2025

ISLAMABAD: The Gates Foundation will support the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its partnership with Pakistan to strengthen preparedness and the response to ongoing monsoon floods, meeting health needs for over 465,000 people most affected people across 33 high-risk districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan.

The donation from the Gates Foundation, totalling US$ 1 million, will support Pakistan’s national and provincial authorities in ensuring the continuity of life-saving health services by strengthening disease surveillance, outbreak response, the availability of essential medical supplies in targeted locations, health sector coordination, and risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) to provide life-saving information.

According to a statement, the initiative, to be implemented over the next six months, will pay particular attention to pregnant women, children under five, older people, people with disabilities and internally displaced people (IDPs).

“We are particularly thankful to the Gates Foundation for this generous and timely support to WHO teams in the field supporting federal and provincial authorities to meet health needs, deliver medical supplies and save lives. As the climate crisis fuels ever more extreme monsoons and natural disasters, evidence shows that a rapid response and good preparedness are essential to preserve public health,“ said WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Dapeng Luo.

He said WHO stands with Pakistan to save lives today and build stronger, more resilient health systems for tomorrow to protect future generations.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2025

• Commissioner says breaches ordered by CM
• Three boys drown in floodwater in Gujrat district
• Palkhu drain overflows near Wazirabad

GUJRAT: The authorities deliberately breached dykes near Qadirabad Headworks in Mandi Bahauddin district and Khanki Headworks in Wazirabad-Gujrat districts to save irrigation system as well lives and properties of people.

Hundreds of villages in Gujrat, Wazirabad and Mandi Bahauddin districts were affected by the high flood in the river Chenab. According to officials, the rescue teams evacuated and rescued more than 1,080 people stranded in the flooded areas along the banks of the river Chenab, whereas 935 animals were also evacuated from at least 66 villages of Gujrat by the Wednesday evening.

The Palkhu drain also overflowed near Wazirabad railway station, and the water entered various parts of the city, including residential areas, as well as Sialkot Road.

Gujranwala Commissioner Naveed Haider Sheerazi, who also holds the additional charge of Gujrat division, said a deliberate breach was caused through a blast on a road in Phalia tehsil of Mandi Bahauddin.

Gujrat Assistant Commisioner Bilal Zubair said the authorities had planned to breach the dyke at Khanki Headworks near Kot Nathu on Gujrat side on water flow reaching 1.1 million cusecs. However, he said, to be on safe side the breach was created around 15,000 to 20,000 below the mark, adding that the water flow was slightly going down by Wednesday evening.

Irrigation officials say that on Wednesday over one million cusec floodwater passed from Khanki Headworks, which was the worst flooding so far in terms of water rising in such a short span of time.

The local population near Qadirabad Headworks was also evacuated by the Mandi Bahauddin district administration in the wake of the deliberate breach.

From Marala Headworks to Kahnki Headworks, the floodwater affected at least 66 villages, which is the worst situation in Gujrat district since the 1992 floods, says Khizer Hayat Bhatti, Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue (ADCR).

He added that the rescue and evacuation of the stranded people and their cattle from the riverbed had been continuing for the last 24 hours.

Gujranwala DC Naveed Ahmed, who also holds the additional charge of Wazirabad DC, said the Palkhu drain overflowed at around 35,000 cusecs as its safe capacity was around only 26,000 cusecs. The traffic flow on the road to Sialkot airport, from Shahbaz Pur bridge of Gujrat, as well as from Wazirabad city, has also been affected after a portion of the road connecting Jalalpur Jattan to Sialkot airport, was washed away by the floodwater.

Meanwhile, at least three boys allegedly drowned in the floodwater near two villages of Gujrat.

As per Rescue 1122, in the first incident, Bilal (12) drowned at Nutt Tibba village, whereas two others, identified as Abdul Rauf (13) and Samiullah (12) drowned near Shahbaz Pur bridge near Jalalpur Jattan town.

Gujrat Deputy Commissioner Nurulain Qureshi and District Police Officer Rana Umar Farooq also remained in the affected areas along the river Chenab banks to monitor the rescue and evacuation operations.

Despite warning by the authorities that the people should stay away from the flooded areas, a large number of people, including women and children, from Wazirabad and Gujrat continued to visit the river Chenab bridges on the GT Road, creating hurdles in the traffic flow on the national highway.

According to officials, scores of cattle heads were evacuated by the farmers from cattle farms along the river banks at Mohla, Goraya, Qiladaar, Sandhar and Tarikha villages of Gujrat, where rescue teams also evacuated stranded people.

The administrations of Gujrat and Sialkot districts had also announced local holiday on Wednesday given the flooding of the region.

Meanwhile, Gujranwala Commissioner Naveed Haider Sheerazi said that the breaches near Khanki Headworks was created on the directions of Punjab Cheif Minister Maryam Nawaz to protect further erosion of the land along the river Chenab banks and to save the lives and house houses of the residents.

He was addressing a special meeting at Khanki Headworks late on Wednesday night, where Gujrat DC Nurulain Qureshi and other senior officials were present.

He appealed to the residents of rural areas of Gujranwala, Gujrat and Wazirabad near the river Chenab banks to move to safer places as water level might further rise in the river.

He said the government was making all out efforts to protect people’s lives and properties from floodwater.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2025

• Lower riparian takes measures to tackle inflows from swollen Indus tributaries at Guddu Barrage
• Irsa director says flood of about 650,000 cusecs likely at Guddu if current situation persists

HYDERABAD: As Sindh anticipates a very high flood between Sept 1 and 3 at Guddu Barrage — its first barrage on the Indus River — due to the swollen eastern rivers currently wreaking havoc in Punjab, the downstream province has asked the authorities to reduce outflows from Tarbela Dam to help it manage the deluge.

As multiple rivers submerge Punjab, Sindh has reached out to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) to reduce outflows from Tarbela and retain water at Chashma Barrage — a request accepted by the authority.

The provincial irrigation authorities are keeping an eye on flows generated in the Chenab, Sutlej, and Ravi rivers, as all these rivers converge in the Indus at Mithankot after passing the Panjnad Barrage built over the Jhelum River. At Panjnad, all tributaries of the Indus meet on their way to the sea through Sindh.

“As of today, I foresee a flow of between 650,000 and 700,000 cusecs at Guddu Barrage once the flows start reaching here from the eastern rivers,” Jam Khan, Sindh’s irrigation minister, told Dawn on the phone from Karachi. “Right now it is a guessing game because nobody knows how the rainfall pattern behaves but we are making full preparations and accordingly managing staff at the dykes,” he added.

Zarif Kharif, the Sindh irrigation secretary, said a similar situation was witnessed in 2014 when Khanki Barrage on Chenab reported 947,000 cusecs flow on Sept 7, 2014 and Sindh had received about 475,000 cusecs.

“This time, the situation is a bit different because Guddu passed a high flood of 510,798 cusecs on Aug 24. As of Wednesday, Guddu was still showing an upstream discharge of 335,196 cusecs, he said, adding that the flows would increase once water from Punjab reached the barrage.

In order to manage the surge, the secretary confirmed that they reached out to Irsa Director Operations Khalid Idrees Rana for controlling outflows at Tarbela. An outflow of 154,500 cusecs was recorded at Tarbela at 6am on Wednesday, which notably increased to 256,200 cusecs at 6pm. This, coupled with the Kabul River, will reach Sindh’s barrages within a few days.

Tarbela Dam had attained the maximum storage level of 1,550 feet on Aug 21. After Irsa started discharging flows, the dam’s level stood at 1549.66ft on Wednesday at 6pm. Against this backdrop, the irrigation secretary asked Irsa to retain water at Chashma so that Sindh could manage its flows from the swollen eastern rivers.

“Yes, we have reduced flows from Tarbela (at Sindh’s request), where 155,000 cusecs outflow was recorded at 8pm Wednesday,” the Irsa operations director told Dawn. He also confirmed that “storage can be taken slightly higher than maximum storage of 1,550 feet. We can take it to 1550.2 or 1550.3 feet for now,” he argued.

He said that a positive sign was that there were no back-up flows in the Chenab. “We are observing nullahs like Palkhu, Basantpur and Bhimber currently,” he said. He pointed out that in view of the current situation, a flood of 650,000 cusecs or so was likely at Guddu and that too may last five to six hours. “We are struggling to manage flows in a way that Guddu’s discharge should remain below 600,000 cusecs.”

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2025