{"id":131,"date":"2025-09-06T09:47:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T09:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/?p=131"},"modified":"2025-09-06T09:47:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T09:47:46","slug":"tents-and-tears-pakistan-flood-survivors-fear-life-after-water-recedes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/2025\/09\/06\/tents-and-tears-pakistan-flood-survivors-fear-life-after-water-recedes\/","title":{"rendered":"Tents and tears: Pakistan flood survivors fear life after water recedes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sitting on the edge of her bed at a school playground-turned-relief camp, Rubina Bibi\u2019s voice trembled as she contemplated what would come next.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Floodwaters that swept through her village in Punjab\u2019s Kasur district destroyed her home. Now, she wonders where her family will go once the waters recede and the camp closes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 40-year-old\u2019s family is among dozens sheltering in a government-run school in Kasur, some 15 kilometers from the flooded villages along the Sutlej river near Pakistan\u2019s border with India. They live under makeshift tents and plastic sheets, alongside neighbors who, like them, have lost everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have lost everything, our home and belongings. The greatest worry is what will happen after the water recedes and we have to leave this camp? Where will we go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNowadays the world feels so cruel, and we cannot bear the thought of our daughters living outside in the open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"670\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/flood.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-132\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/flood.jpg 670w, https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/flood-300x177.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/flood-150x88.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Punjab, which produces much of Pakistan\u2019s wheat and rice and is home to half of the country\u2019s 240 million people, has suffered the worst damage in this year\u2019s monsoon season. Officials in the province reported that 49 people have died in the ongoing Ravi\u2013Sutlej\u2013Chenab flood wave, bringing Punjab\u2019s monsoon death toll since mid-June to 183.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nearly 3.9 million people have been affected and 3,900 villages submerged while authorities have shifted over 1.8 million residents to safer areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across Pakistan, rain and flood-related incidents have killed 884 people since the start of the monsoon on June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Kasur\u2019s Ganda Singh Wala area, close to the Indian border, floodwaters alone submerged 148 villages and destroyed crops on 70,000 acres, according to the district administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities said they had evacuated nearly 76,000 people from the district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>STRUGGLES IN RELIEF CAMPS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the District Public School camp in Kasur, about 350 people from 80 families have lived in temporary shelters for more than two weeks. Aid has trickled in, but uncertainty weighs heavily on the families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur children need clothes as they have only one suit to wear and are roaming around in tattered shoes,\u201d Rubina said, appealing to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif to provide them with a permanent roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nearby, Aisha Bibi, a young flood survivor, voiced the same fears:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are very worried that once this camp is closed after the floodwater recedes, where we will go. It has become a great anxiety and depression for us affecting our mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese people are scared that they have to go back so consoling them for now is the biggest challenge,\u201d said Sherina Junejo, an additional deputy commissioner in Kasur. \u201cWe are very hopeful that things are going to get better and they are going to go back to their homes and get settled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Junejo said the administration was striving to meet the hygiene and health needs of women at the camp to help families retain some dignity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHygiene kits are in place, sanitary napkins are in place and [we are] providing them with a fresh set of clothes and other relevant female hygiene items,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities have also provided antenatal care for pregnant women, with a hospital set up in the female wing of the camp staffed by women doctors and attendants round the clock.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo, if something like that (medical emergency) were to occur, God forbid, we are equipped to address it,\u201d Junejo added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"603\" src=\"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/floo-1-1024x603.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/floo-1-1024x603.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/floo-1-300x177.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/floo-1-768x452.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/floo-1-713x420.jpg 713w, https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/floo-1-150x88.jpg 150w, https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/floo-1-696x410.jpg 696w, https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/floo-1-1068x629.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/floo-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rescue personnel evacuate flood-affected villagers on a boat, along the banks of river Sutlej in Kasur district, Punjab province on September 3, 2025. (AFP)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mehrish Arshad, a nurse at the makeshift hospital, said diarrhea, fever, sore throats and related ailments were the main illnesses among children.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe received about 100 hygiene kits and we have provided them to all the ladies,\u201d she said, noting that the camp currently had sufficient medical supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kasur Deputy Commissioner Imran Ali said damage assessment teams had already been formed by Punjab\u2019s Communications and Works Department.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs the water recedes, we will be able to understand which structures got damaged to which extent and will be compensated accordingly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sitting on the edge of her bed at a school playground-turned-relief camp, Rubina Bibi\u2019s voice trembled as she contemplated what would come next.&nbsp; Floodwaters that swept through her village in Punjab\u2019s Kasur district destroyed her home. Now, she wonders where her family will go once the waters recede and the camp closes. The 40-year-old\u2019s family [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11],"class_list":{"0":"post-131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pakistan","8":"tag-feature"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions\/136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qeyadat.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}