Monsoon toll reaches 38 as house collapses account for most deaths, says NDMA

ISLAMABAD: At least 38 people have died and 120 have been injured since the monsoon season began on June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority’s latest daily situation report issued on Friday. The report shows Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recorded the highest number of deaths at 23, followed by Punjab with 10 and Balochistan with five. No fatalities were reported in Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir or Islamabad.

The NDMA said Punjab reported the highest number of injuries at 64, while Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recorded 43 and Balochistan 13. House collapses remained the main cause of deaths during the current monsoon spell, accounting for 65.8% of the total. Lightning caused 15.8% of the deaths, while flash floods were responsible for 7.9%. Incidents involving solar panels and drowning each made up 2.6% of fatalities, while falling trees and electrocution also accounted for 2.6% each.

Damage and rescue operations

150 houses have been damaged since June 26, including 68 destroyed completely and 82 partially damaged. The monsoon has also killed 177 livestock animals. Road damage has been reported over 3.12 kilometres, including 2.52km in Gilgit-Baltistan and 0.6km in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, while no bridges have been reported damaged.

Rescue teams have conducted 50 operations and evacuated 466 people, including 300 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 116 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 50 in Punjab. The NDMA said relief work since the start of the season has included the distribution of tents, blankets, food packs, ration bags, hygiene kits, tarpaulins, drinking water, water filtration plants, solar lamps, boats and other emergency supplies by provincial authorities, the federal government and humanitarian organisations in affected areas.

The authority said no deaths, injuries, housing damage or livestock losses were reported in the last 24 hours. The only incident recorded during that period was the blockage of a 0.1-kilometre section of Chipursan Road in Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan, due to rain-related disruption. Traffic was later restored after the road was cleared.

Fresh weather warning

Separately, the Pakistan Meteorological Department has warned that monsoon activity is likely to intensify in many parts of the country from July 18 to July 25. In its advisory, the Met Office said monsoon currents from the Arabian Sea are "continuously penetrating upper and central parts of the country" and are expected to strengthen over the weekend.

The PMD said widespread rain, windstorms and thunderstorms could raise the risk of flash floods, urban flooding and landslides. It warned that windstorms and lightning "may damage weak structures (solar panels, electric poles, billboards, etc.)" during the forecast period. It also cautioned that landslides may occur in vulnerable areas of upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galiyat and کشمیر, while flash flooding is likely in local streams and nullahs across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, northeastern Punjab, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, the hill torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan and northeastern Balochistan during periods of heavy rain.

Recent monsoon impact

The report also referenced the scale of damage seen during the last monsoon season, when more than 1,000 people were killed and losses were estimated at Rs822 billion, or around $2.9 billion, according to the government’s assessment. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal had said agriculture suffered the largest losses at Rs430 billion, while infrastructure damage was estimated at Rs307 billion. More than 312,000 homes were affected nationwide, with Punjab accounting for most of them.

Last year’s monsoon also damaged 2,811 kilometres of roads, more than 2,200 educational institutions and 250 health facilities, while 866 water supply systems were affected. The farming sector suffered further losses with more than 2,200 livestock killed and millions of tonnes of crops, including cotton, rice and sugarcane, destroyed. The 2022 floods caused $30 billion in economic losses and required $16.3 billion for reconstruction, while a World Bank assessment found 82% of the losses were in agriculture, affecting 4.4 million acres of farmland and 800,000 livestock. Those floods killed 1,700 people, displaced 33 million and caused devastation valued at $40 billion across the country.