The worst flooding in 37 years from the Sutlej River has devastated Bahawalnagar, leaving thousands homeless and stripping families of their livelihoods.
Among the most heart-wrenching stories is that of 90-year-old labourer Allah Bakhsh of Basti Basara Baloch, who lost his lifelong savings — his house and farmland — within moments as floodwaters swept them away.
Now, he sits under the open sky along a roadside with his 75-year-old wife and three adult but disabled sons, waiting desperately for help.
“I worked all my life and built only one house. The water has taken even that. Where do we go now?” he wept.
His wife added, “We have no roof, no food, and disabled children. Only God can help us.”
The family, without access to official relief, has become a symbol of helplessness. But their plight is just one among hundreds.
Floodwaters have ravaged all three tehsils of Bahawalnagar, destroying villages along 154 kilometres of river belt.
Hundreds of settlements have been wiped out, thousands of families displaced, and the district — Pakistan’s last bordering region, dependent on farming and livestock — stripped of its economic backbone.
Residents speak of hunger, desperation, and broken spirits. Some even admitted that, were it not for the religious prohibition against suicide, they would have ended their suffering.
Hanifa Bibi, an elderly woman who once migrated after the 1988 floods, is again in a tent — this time without her husband or son, relying only on her daughter-in-law and grandchildren.
Another old man visits the ruins of his home daily, breaking down in tears before returning to his tent.
A farmer’s family, who had saved for years to prepare dowry for their only daughter, lost everything overnight as the floodwaters drowned their hopes of marriage.
Along the riverbanks, women and children are struggling for food while men remain unemployed and directionless. Survivors say temporary aid is not enough. What they need is sustainable rehabilitation: permanent housing, restored crops and livestock, and new income opportunities.
The suffering of Bahawalnagar’s flood victims is not just a regional disaster but a stark reminder to humanity — that beyond sympathy, what is urgently required are practical steps for rebuilding lives.
