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ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities deliberately breached a river embankment in Punjab on Friday to divert powerful flood surges away from Jhang city, as disaster officials reported 20 deaths in the province this week and more than 429,000 people evacuated.

The flood emergency comes at the height of the South Asian monsoon, when rivers routinely swell but in recent years have become more destructive due to climate change. Punjab, home to more than half of Pakistan’s 240 million people and the country’s breadbasket, has been among the worst hit this week. Officials said the devastation was fueled both by torrential rains and excess water released from upstream dams in India.

According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), at least 1,769 villages are inundated, affecting some 1.45 million people. Nationwide, Pakistan’s monsoon death toll since June has climbed past 820.

Addressing a press conference on Friday morning, PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia said water levels in Lahore, the provincial capital, had steadied and begun to recede after reaching levels unseen since 1988. 

“By the grace of Allah, all destruction was avoided due to timely response and public cooperation,” he told reporters, adding that rescue calls in the city had now tapered off.

It is also the first time in nearly four decades, the official explained, that the Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab rivers have all been in simultaneous high flood, forcing rescue workers to intensify operations across multiple districts. 

Kathia warned that a powerful surge of around 217,000 cusecs — cubic feet per second, the standard unit used to measure river discharge — was moving downstream on the Ravi River. At Balloki Barrage, flows have already reached close to 147,000 cusecs and are still rising, with the tributary Nala Deg expected to add another 10,000–20,000 cusecs.

To protect populations, authorities carried out a controlled breach at Riwaz Bridge near Jhang, which diverted water away from the city at the cost of inundating farmland and smaller settlements. 

At Chiniot Bridge, flows reached around 830,000 cusecs, with further increases possible. 

The combined population of Jhang and Chiniot districts, now under strain, is about 4.6 million people.

Controlled breaches — where embankments or barrages are deliberately cut to release pressure — are a long-standing but controversial flood management tactic in Pakistan. 

Authorities say they are necessary to save major population centers and key infrastructure, even if it means sacrificing farmland and villages. Similar breaches were carried out during the 2010 and 2022 “super floods,” when hundreds of thousands were displaced to protect barrages and cities downstream.

Kathia said 365 relief camps have been established in public buildings, though only 4,000–4,500 people had moved in so far. 

“Along with this, looking at the water and the lower districts, this number is increasing every hour,” he said. 

Authorities have also evacuated more than 301,000 animals and ordered uninterrupted fodder and wheat supplies. Families of those killed are being compensated with Rs1 million ($3,570) each.

Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman said tent villages had been established, mobile “Clinics on Wheels” dispatched, and medical camps stocked with essential drugs, including anti-snakebite vaccines. Schools in flood-hit districts may be closed for a week, while the livestock department has been tasked with supplying feed and vaccines. 

Flows on the Sutlej River remain elevated, with 261,000 cusecs at Ganda Singh Wala for the fourth straight day, raising levels downstream in Okara, Pakpattan and Bahawalnagar to between 100,000–150,000 cusecs.

Kathia said the surges are expected to enter Sindh’s river system in the coming days and provincial authorities there have been placed on alert.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif instructed officials to begin work on a comprehensive policy to tackle the impacts of climate change and the monsoon, pledging that a working paper would soon be shared with provincial governments to develop a joint plan.

“Climate change is a reality, and only through effective preparedness can the damages of natural disasters be avoided,” Sharif said, adding that water reservoirs would be built “through consultation and complete consensus of all provinces.”

He said a high-level meeting would be convened once the emergency subsides, bringing together chief ministers of all four provinces as well as the leaders of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, to finalize a national approach on water storage and disaster management.

Pakistan’s 2022 monsoon floods, the worst in its history, submerged a third of the country, killed more than 1,700 people and displaced 33 million.

Sindh bore the brunt of the calamity with over 1,000 deaths, nearly 2 million homes destroyed, and more than 4 million acres of crops lost.