NAROWAL: As many as 1,007 prisoners have been shifted from the Sialkot district jail to different jails in Punjab owing to the flood situation in the area.

Chief Minister Task Force for Prisons Chairman Rana Manan Khan told Dawn that 565 prisoners at the Sialkot district jail were shifted to the Gujranwala district jail, 274 to the Narowal district jail and 168 to the Hafizabad district jail. He said the prisoners shifted to the Gujranwala, Narowal and Hafizabad jails included both men and women. He said the prisoners had been transferred in order to protect them from the prevailing flood situation.

Meanwhile, labourers from adjoining areas, who worked in factories of Sialkot, had been trapped in their homes and were struggling to eat three square meals a day.

As heavy rains and flash floods in Sialkot have caused severe damage to roads coupled with the closure of industries, thousands of labourers from Pasrur, Chawinda, Badiana, Chaprad, Bajwat and hundreds of villages in the area are finding it hard to earn a living.

The collapse of the bridge near Islam Center on Pasrur-Sialkot road had suspended traffic, while the roads connecting Sialkot from Bhagwal Road, Kushnawali Stop, Head Marala Road, Sherpur, Bajwat and Chaprad Sector and other areas had also been washed away in the flood. Public and private transport had been suspended and workers were trapped in their homes for six days.

Workers Muhammad Ashiq and Muhammad Afzal said that they were unable to reach their jobs. They said that it had become difficult to even afford food and the rains and floods had taken away their livelihoods.

Muhammad Imran, a resident of Kushnawali village, said that his mother was seriously ill and the local doctor had referred her to the Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital, Sialkot. However, he was unable to shift her to the hospital due to the dilapidated roads. He said that due to poverty, he could not afford her treatment at private hospitals.

Dozens of villages had been cut-off due to the rains and floods and the floodwater was accumulated in people’s houses and animal shelters. The residents of these villages have been waiting for relief from the government. The affectees have demanded that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz take immediate notice of the situation.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2025