Floods in eastern Pakistan put 2 million people at risk

Pakistan's eastern Punjab province is dealing with the biggest flood in its history, a senior official said Sunday, as water levels of rivers rise to all-time highs.

- By Babar DOGAR

A. RIZVI Associated Press.

VILLAGERS in Pakistan navigate a flooded area with their livestock on Sunday.

Global warming has worsened monsoon rains this year in Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to a new study. Downpours and cloudbursts have triggered flash floods and landslides across the mountainous north and northwest in recent months.

Residents in Punjab have also experienced abnormal amounts of rain, as well as cross-border flooding after India released water from swollen rivers and its overflowing dams into Pakistan's low-lying regions.

“This is the biggest flood in the history of the Punjab. The flood has affected 2 million people. It’s the first time that the three rivers — Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi—have carried such high levels of water,” the senior minister for the province, Maryam Aurangzeb, said at a news conference Sunday.