Flood-hit families face mounting debt for homes washed away

The recent floods have ravaged crops, farmland, and homes across Punjab, sweeping away the lifetime savings of countless families and leaving them burdened with debt.

In a private housing society near Mohlanwal, Lahore, houses once built with hope now stand abandoned — doors broken, walls collapsed, and belongings ruined by floodwaters. For many residents, the devastation extends beyond property loss to the crushing loans taken to build these homes.

Basharat Bibi recalled how just weeks earlier her dream house had been completed.

“On August 10, the construction was finished. We were preparing for a prayer gathering when the floods destroyed everything,” she said. Her husband, a rickshaw driver, had been injured during renovation work.

“We built this house with a loan from Akhuwat under the ‘Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar’ scheme. The first installment was not even paid, and now we are left with nothing but debt.”

The story is the same for Nadeem Iqbal and his brothers, who invested their savings into their home.

“We spent our life’s earnings on this house, but the flood washed away all our dreams,” he said, pointing to the water that still stands inside.

For Muhammad Jahangir, the water has receded but destruction remains. Broken furniture, mud-caked doors, and ruined appliances fill his home.

“When the flood came, the police evacuated everyone and didn’t allow us to take anything along,” he said. On the rooftop, his mother tried to dry her daughter’s dowry in the sun.

“We saved for years to buy this, but everything is ruined,” she lamented, adding that some items were stolen during the chaos.

Read: Punjab floods ignite fears of Sindh deluge

Jahangir said their solar inverter was also taken. “It wasn’t just us. Many residents here are suffering not only from the destruction of the flood but also from thefts.”

'We ask the Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to hear our plea. We have built homes for our children with loans and hard work, but everything has been destroyed. At the very least, our loans should be written off so that we can start again.” Hundreds of families in the society now stand amid wreckage, haunted by the anxiety of paying back loans for houses that no longer exist.

According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), more than 3,300 villages in Punjab have been affected by flooding in the Ravi, Sutlej, and Chenab rivers. An estimated 3.36 million people have been impacted, while nearly 1.3 million have been evacuated to safer areas.

For flood-hit families, this tragedy is not only about destroyed houses, but about shattered dreams, ruined dowries, and futures buried under rubble — as they wait for the state to step in and help them rebuild their lives.

Relief efforts in flood-affected areas

The Pakistan Army, civil administration and other departments are continuing rescue and relief operations in flood-affected areas of South Punjab.

The protective embankment at Ganda Singh Wala on the Sutlej River has broken, while a high-level flood has been reported at Head Sulemanki.

Read more: Moderate to heavy rains likely in Sindh from Sept 7

The protective embankment at Ganda Singh Wala on the Sutlej River has broken, while a high-level flood has been reported at Head Sulemanki, intensifying the flood crisis across Punjab.

According to officials, twelve relief camps have been established in suburban areas near the river. In Sahiwal, 49 villages have been inundated, with 30 camps set up to support displaced residents.

A high-level flood is also underway at Head Sidhnai in Tehsil Kabirwala, where relief operations are ongoing in Tulamba, Mian Channu and Iqbal Nagar. Thousands of people, livestock and wheat stocks have been shifted to safer locations.

In Okara, free medical camps have been set up for flood victims, while additional camps have been established in Rangpur and Head Muhammad Wala. In Tehsil Muzaffargarh and Kot Addu, precautionary measures are being reviewed jointly by the Pakistan Army and civil administration.

Relief work is also continuing in Kholra Point, Hasu Wali, Budhwana, Jhang and Chiniot, where hundreds of people and animals have been moved to safer areas. The Pakistan Army has established multiple relief camps, ensuring supplies of food, clothes and medicines, while free medical facilities are being provided to the affected.

The crisis has worsened following India’s release of large volumes of water into the Sutlej, prompting high alerts in at least nine districts of Punjab amid fears that fresh inflows could aggravate the already “extremely high flood” situation.