Punjab’s senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that 56 people have lost their lives and over 4.2 million have been affected by the recent floods in Punjab.

Providing detailed updates on the flood situation, she said that a total of 4,155 villages have been affected, and crops on 1.496 million acres of land have been destroyed, adding that the rescue and relief operation is the largest ever in the province’s history.

According to the minister, 1,957 villages along the Chenab River, 1,477 along the Ravi River, 625 along the Sutlej River, and 96 villages near the Indus River have been submerged.

In these areas, 244,000 people were facing severe difficulties, she added.

Marriyum Aurangzeb further stated that more than 2.2 million people have been shifted to safer locations, and 1.6 million livestock have been rescued.

Referring to relief efforts, she said that over 1,000 field hospitals and mobile clinics, including mother and child health vans, have been deployed in the flood-hit areas.

In addition, over 500 veterinary medical camps have been set up to treat rescued livestock, the minister added.

Marriyum Aurangzeb added that affected people were also being provided with food, clean drinking water, and medicines, while disinfection and anti-epidemic sprays were being carried out regularly to prevent disease outbreaks.

The minister emphasised that Punjab has never experienced such a massive flood before, nor has such a large-scale rescue and relief effort ever been carried out.