LAHORE:
The Punjab government led by PML-N has prepared an RS500 billion aid package for flood victims, the sources said. The Plan aims to compensate for losses and provide financial assistance to millions of people affected along the banks of three rivers during recent rains and floods.
Payments will be made through the Punjab government relief card. The families whose houses were completely destroyed will receive RS1 million, while those whose houses were partially damaged will receive RS 500,000.
According to the sources, 63,200 brick houses and 309,684 mud houses were damaged in floods. Compensation for the loss of livestock, including cows and buffalo will also be administered.
Farmers whose crops were destroyed will be compensated at a rate of RS 20,000 per acre. The package also includes the rehabilitation of roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Mass floods have attacked both rural hearts and industrial centers for the first time in decades, causing billions of dollars in damage while striving for food supplies, exports and a fragile economic recovery.
The government had been optimistic around 2026, with a growth of 4.2% to the back of a rebound in agriculture and manufacturing after the economy stabilized under a rescue of international monetary funds of $ 7 billion.
On the other hand, the rains of the monsoon registered since the end of June, amplified by the launches of the Indian dam, have submerged large strips of Punjab.
Although the waters have not yet retreated in many districts, officials and analysts warn that the blow could be deeper than in 2022, when a third of the country lay underwater, due to dual clashes for agriculture and manufacture.
In Punjab, the rice, cotton and corn engine of Pakistan, 1.8 million acres of cultivation lands have been flooded, according to the Provincial Agency for Disaster Management. “About 50% of rice and 60% of cotton and corn crops have been damaged,” said Khalid Bath, president of the Pakistan Farmers Association.
He said the losses could exceed 2.5 million acres, with a value of up to RS1 billion ($ 3.53 billion). “This is different from everything we have seen in recent decades,” said Iqrar Ahmad Khan, former vice chancellor of the Faisalabad University of Agriculture.
He estimates that at least one tenth of the country’s crops are destroyed, with vegetable losses that exceed 90% in some districts.
The moment is dangerous: Pakistan is about to sow wheat, the harvest that provides almost half of the country’s caloric intake.
National reserves remain comfortable after a strong harvest of 2024, according to the crop monitor, but the planting window is at risk in the still slippery fields with silt and mud. “Food insecurity is approaching, not only the highest prices,” Khan warned.
