‘Intense’ monsoon rain, flooding continue to engulf Pakistan’s Punjab

New evacuation orders have been issued in low-lying areas of Pakistan’s Punjab province amid a heavy flood warning, with the region experiencing its worst flooding on record.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department posted on X on Monday that rains were persisting across the country as “another intense monsoon system is expected to bring exceptional downpours in southern parts during the next two days”.

With an evacuation order issued to communities near the swollen Chenab, Sutlej, and Ravi rivers, Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Multan in Punjab, explained that the situation was “not under control”.

“We have reports from early this morning that Jalalpur Pirwala, which is 90km [56 miles] from Multan … that half a million people are stuck after the water inundated their villages; some of them are seeking protection under rooftops,” he said.

“There aren’t sufficient boats to evacuate these people. Helicopter operations have been called in, but the weather is also not good,” he added.

With the rain continuing, Hyder stressed that the situation was a “huge calamity” with villages and houses destroyed, but also the country now having to reel from losing crops due to the destruction of farmland.