LAHORE: Punjab has acquired two drones to air­­lift survivors from flo­od-hit areas and transport food and other life-saving equipment to people stranded in floodwaters.

The home department conducted a test run of the drone on Wednesday and rescued a man in a mock exercise in Lahore.

Secretary Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi told Dawn that the drone having the capacity to lift people or relief items up to 100kg had been dispatched to Multan after a test run in Lahore. “Another drone with a capacity to car­­ry up to 200kg has been acquired from Kar­achi and is expected to reach Multan on Thursday,” he said.

The Punjab governm­e­­nt has already been using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and quadcopters to identify citizens trap­ped in floodwaters before sending boats to the survivors.

Navy deploys hovercraft to rescue people, livestock stranded in Sindh districts

Dr Qazi said the drones were equipped with powerful cameras and were being sent on surveillance flights to identify the worst-hit areas, adding the floods had played havoc in the province. “Where there is an emergency and areas have become inaccessible for routine operations thr­ough boats, these drones will airlift people to save lives,” he added.

A department spokesman said the secretary had inst­ructed them to acquire 10 more drones for rescue and relief operations.

Separately, the Pakis­tan Navy has deployed hovercraft in the flood-af­fected districts of Kash­more, Ghotki, Sukkur and Shikarpur in Sindh.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, a spokesperson said the hovercraft were capable of operating across land, water and swampy areas. “In these districts, 4,335 people and over 125 livestock have been successfully evacuated,” the statement said.

The teams also transferred household belongings and fertiliser stocks.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2025