LAHORE: As floodwaters have submerged vast swathes in south Punjab, the tehsils of Jalalpur Pirwala and Alipur have become epicenters of an emerging humanitarian crisis, with over 1.4 million people affected by the calamity.
In Jalalpur Pirwala tehsil, around 700,000 people have been affected by the flood as most of its union councils have been submerged. A drone camera footage shows floodwater inundating around 35km to 40km area of the tehsil.
As most of the villages and settlements have lost land connection, the government is also using helicopters for the evacuation of the people still trapped in the floodwater, awaiting help, sitting on the rooftops of their houses.
The tehsil headquarters gives the look of a haunted town abandoned by most of its residents who evacuated to safe places, leaving their homes.
A town resident, Sohail Baloch, points out that the lack of potable water was also a reason forcing the residents to leave their houses. He says that water from the riverbed was a major source, as the underground water in the area is saline and can’t be used for drinking and cooking.
Many in the two flood-hit south Punjab tehsils await evacuation, relief goods
He says that water from the river used to be filtered by the water plants to make it potable, but due to the suspension of electricity, these filtration plants have been rendered dysfunctional.
He adds that around 95 percent of the shops and stores in Jalalpur Pirwala city have been closed, fearing the flood. Piles of earth could be seen in front of many shops, which have been dumped to block the floodwater, he says.
He says that those sitting on the rooftops of their houses in the flooded areas are also not safe, as these structures are collapsing because of remaining in the floodwater for a week.
Baloch says that before the Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s visit to Jalalpur Pirwala, there was an acute shortage of rescue boats and the owners of private boats were charging the flood-hit people for evacuation at their will.
He says that on the CM’s orders, additional boats have been provided for the evacuation of people, while private boats have also been hired for the purpose by the district administration.
As no mobile phone network is functional in the flood-affected areas of the tehsil, the trapped people can’t call anyone for rescue, he adds. However, he says, the situation improved after the CM’s visit as she ordered search operations in the flood-affected areas of the tehsil to evacuate trapped people. The administration is also using four helicopters for relief and evacuation in the area, he adds.
He says the union councils which have been completely submerged include Durabpur, Kotla Chakar, Norraja Bhutta, Khan Bela, Bait Kech Shumali and Janobi, Mochi Panohan, Vicha Sandheela, Mohana Sandheela, Phairani, Bait Mughal and Patan Miayni.
A flood-affected resident, Majid Zahoor, told Dawn that people were evacuating on their own before the CM’s visit and private boat operators were charging them heavily. “The operators were charging up to Rs10,000 to Rs15,000 per person to transport them to safe place,” zahoor says, adding that Rs10,000-Rs20,000 per cattle head was being charged by these unscrupulous boat owners.
He says as the floodwater entered his village, people had to run for their lives, leaving their household items on the rooftops. He says many had to leave their cattle heads in the floodwater.
Zahoor says that thieves using private boats were stealing the belongings left by the flood-hit residents, including fridges, washing machines and solar panels.
He says five people of his village had gone missing in the floodwater and rescuers were searching for them.
Meanwhile, the 50 percent of the 760,000-strong population of Alipur tehsil has been affected by the flood.
Local sources say that several union councils in the tehsil were submerged three days ago when the Panjnad Headworks received its first major surge last week. The situation worsened further with the second surge that is passing through the headworks, they add.
The submerged areas include Seetpur, Khan Garh Doma, Tibbi Arain, Sarki, Kotla Ghulam Shah, Kotla Bakhsh, Pepalwala, Phalwala, Langarwah, Khairpur, Missan Kot, Bait Nabi Shah, Ghalwan-II, Bait Mullan Wali, Azamatpur, Chowki Gabol, Chuttaywala, Wasti Mahsar, Wasti Gopang, Kundrala, Gulshan-e-Rasool, Damarwala Janobi, Lashkariwala, Mehanwala, Hassanwala, Bakhowala, Lalwala and Basti Lashri.
They say thousands of people are sitting on the bank of Chandar Bahan Nala without any help as the government has established only four relief camps in different schools of the tehsil.
Dodal Khan of Azmatpur told Dawn that he had lost 15 of his cattle heads to the flood that hit his village. He says that two cows of his sister also drowned in the floodwater and they were fending for themselves without any government help.
He says that the government officials only made announcements through the mosques, warning of the approaching floodwater, but did not provide any transport to people for evacuation.
He says his brother had to pay Rs10,000 per cattle head to a private boat’s owner to transport his livestock to a safe location.
He rubbishes the claims of the district and provincial administrations about provision of rescue boats and relief camps to the flood-hit people. “My family is living in the house of a relative and they are looking after them.”
Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2025
