Lahore division opens 17 flood camps as Punjab steps up monitoring

LAHORE: Authorities have made 17 flood relief camps functional across Lahore division, with officials also identifying additional locations in case the monsoon situation worsens.

An update from the Lahore Commissioner Office said the camps are spread across three of the division’s four districts. Nankana Sahib has the highest number with 13 camps, while Sheikhupura has three and Lahore has one. No camp has yet been opened in Kasur.

The only camp in Lahore district has been set up at Government Boys High School Maraka near Hudiara Drain in Raiwind tehsil. In Sheikhupura, two camps are operating at Narang and one at Government Haroon Pilot School, Sharaqpur.

In Nankana Sahib, 59 people have been moved from flood-hit localities, the administration said. Across the division, officials have also earmarked dozens of other sites for possible use and assigned material, staff and other resources in view of the flood threat.

AI dashboard launched for dam tracking

Separately, the irrigation department has introduced an AI-based dam reservoir analysis dashboard to strengthen reservoir surveillance and water management.

The system combines satellite remote sensing, geospatial analytics and artificial intelligence to support near real-time tracking of reservoir conditions. Its functions include water spread area analysis, live storage estimation, historical comparison, water-level and storage trend review, catchment rainfall monitoring, multi-temporal satellite image comparison, and interactive analytical charts.

A senior irrigation department official said the platform is particularly useful because India is not sharing flood and river-flow data with Pakistan. He said, "Since India is not sharing flood and river flows related data with Pakistan, it is a very efficient system to check the water situation in Indian dams through satellite imagery. Though, through this way, we don’t get confirmed information, but we can get some data to check and update our information and issue alerts for further arrangements."

The official said the dashboard can continue to provide reservoir analysis even without direct access to official dam data by relying on freely available satellite imagery and AI-based processing.