LAHORE: The Punjab government has instructed the authorites concerned to step up ongoing rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected areas of Jalalpur Pirwala and Liaqatpur.

Presiding over a flood management review meeting at the Civil Secretariat on Monday, Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman called on all relevant departments to scale up their response.

He instructed that additional rescue boats be deployed immediately to the hardest-hit areas, ensuring that evacuation efforts were carried out swiftly and efficiently.

He further directed the authorities to carry out evacuations without delay from the areas under threat of flooding and to make use of rafts along with boats’ fleets to move larger number of people to safety in one go.

“Administrative and police officers must stay in the field and keep a close eye on rescue operations,” he said, adding that advance deployment of boats, life jackets and essential relief supplies must be ensured in all districts at risk in south Punjab.

The video-link meeting was attended by Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar, secretaries of relevant departments, the director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, divisional commissioners from Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, as well as RPOs, deputy commissioners and DPOs.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2025