LAHORE: The Punjab government has so far collected the data of 521,000 people affected by last month’s flood. More than 4.5m people had been affected across the province.

“Over 2,200 survey teams and 11,000 officials are engaged in the flood-affected districts. Data of 521,000 affected families has been collected so far,” Punjab Information and Culture Minister Azma Bokhari said on Monday.

She said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz initiated financial assistance for the flood-affected families without waiting for the survey’s completion, ensuring timely relief to the victims. “The rehabilitation of flood-hit families remains a top priority of the Punjab government. So far, Rs1.5bn have been distributed among affected households, and over 50,000 Punjab Flood Recovery Cards have already been delivered to beneficiaries,” she said.

Since Oct 28, she added, more camp sites would be activated in additional districts to guarantee swift and transparent disbursement of aid.

The minister said the CM personally supervised the province’s largest-ever flood rehabilitation operation, taking the 2025 floods as a challenge. “During the unprecedented situation caused by simultaneous flooding in all three major rivers millions of people and over 2.1 million livestock were rescued, with administrative teams remaining active in the field throughout.”

Azma Bokhari said each affected household was being provided with a Punjab Flood Recovery Card to withdraw financial assistance via the Bank of Punjab.

Calling it “Pakistan’s fastest and most transparent rehabilitation initiative,” Azma Bokhari said the Punjab government was committed to reaching every single affected family and ensuring their complete resettlement.

The minister said the rehabilitation programme would be fully completed by November.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2025