Death toll from monsoon rains rises to 157

ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Thursday that the death toll from torrential monsoon rains has reached 157 since June 25.

As per the NDMA report, the people who lost their lives till July 26 included 65 men, 28 women and 64 children.

The highest number of fatalities were reported in Punjab with 67 deaths, followed by 41 deaths in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, seven in Balochistan, 20 in Sindh, six in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and five in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The report highlighted that the recent monsoon rains have caused damage to a total of 643 houses across the country while 330 cattle were swept away by the floods.

Additionally, on Tuesday, seven people were killed, 16 injured in different parts of the country while 175 houses were damaged due to the monsoon rains.

Read more: Rain-related deaths rise to 133: NDMA

According to scientists, the climate change is making seasonal rains heavier and more unpredictable.

Last summer, unprecedented monsoon rains hit a third of Pakistan, damaging two million homes and killing more than 1,700 people.

Pakistan, which has the world’s fifth largest population, produces less than 1 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but it is one of the most vulnerable countries to the extreme weather precipitations caused by global warming.