Pakistanis displaced by flooding in Punjab return to find homes and crops destroyed

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KHANEWAL, Pakistan (AP) — Most of the 2.6 million people displaced by record floods in Pakistan’s Punjab province have returned home to find their houses damaged and their crops destroyed, as authorities promised Thursday to compensate all victims.

Flooding triggered by heavy monsoon rains and water from overflowing dams in India since August has damaged 2.5 million acres of farmland and killed 118 people, according to Punjab relief commissioner, Nabil Javed.

In a statement, the Punjab Disaster Management Authority said August brought the province’s worst flooding on record.

Displaced families are returning now that the water is receding, he said, adding said authorities will begin a survey next week to assess damage to crops, homes and infrastructure in Punjab.

Many survivors said they learned about their losses only upon returning to the flood-hit villages. In Qatalpur village in Punjab, 45-year-old Mohammad Mohsin broke down after returning from a relief camp with his family. His house is still standing but is riddled with cracks.

“The flood destroyed us, our crops are gone,” he told The Associated Press. “We survived the waters, but I fear one day the roof will fall on us. My house needs urgent repair, but so far we have received no government aid."

In the same village, Parveen Bibi, 39, showed the remains of her broken home where she now sleeps with her children.

“During the flood, we stayed on the riverbank and got food from the government,” she said. Bibi said so far, no official has visited to assess their losses.

Along a roadside in Khanewal district in Punjab, Sajjad Hussain, 52, said he spent a week under the open sky with his family after his village was submerged earlier this month.

“Now that the water has gone, I am going back,” the farmer said. “Even if the government only gives me a tent, I will thank God."

The swelling of the Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers in recent weeks was “unprecedented,” said Irfan Ali Kathia, the authority’s director general. “Water has receded in most areas,” he said.

Kathia said the waters are now moving south toward Sindh province.

Pakistan witnessed its most devastating monsoon season in 2022 when floods killed 1,739 people and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage.

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Dogar reported from Lahore, Pakistan.