SUPARCO’S satellite imagery reveals the rapid expansion of Lahore into the floodplains of the Ravi river, with the natural flood corridors giving way to housing schemes and other urban infrastructure. What appears to be valuable real estate is, in fact, land that performs the vital function of absorption and dispersal of floodwaters during periods of sudden and high river flows. As this buffer disappears, the city’s exposure to flooding increases. Floodplains are an integral part of the river system. Encroachments in the form of housing schemes and other constructions constrict a river’s ability to absorb and convey excess water, especially during extreme rainfall or flood events. The Ravi presents an added challenge. Because its waters were allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty, the river downstream of the border is dry for much of the year, creating an impression that its floodplains are permanently available for development. But the river can swell rapidly during the monsoon or emergency flood releases. Since India has stopped sharing IWT-related flow data, careful management of the Ravi’s floodplains has become even more critical.

The problem extends far beyond the Ravi and Lahore. Across Pakistan, unchecked encroachments on floodplains and natural waterways have steadily increased the country’s vulnerability to flooding. It is invariably the poorest communities that bear the heaviest burden. Farmers cultivate flood-prone land because they have few alternatives, while low-income settlements emerge along riverbanks where land is cheap or simply occupied in the absence of effective regulation. Recurrent floods destroy crops, homes and livelihoods, trapping these communities in a cycle of poverty and displacement. Their vulnerability is the consequence of decades of weak land-use planning, poor enforcement and official neglect. Lahore adds a more concerning dimension: floodplains are being transformed not by necessity but by speculative real estate. Commercially driven expansion into the Ravi corridor along Lahore is placing high-value housing and infrastructure in areas vulnerable to flooding. RUDA, which controls new developments in the Ravi floodplains, claims its master plan is based on hydrological studies and modelling, but last year’s flooding in colonies under its control casts doubt on whether those assessments adequately account for increasingly erratic climate-driven flood risks or sudden releases by India. As climate change intensifies floods, satellite imagery warns that using natural floodplains for urban expansion will continue to exact a heavy cost.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2026