LAHORE:
The recent floods have not only ravaged farmland but also swept away the lifetime savings of countless families, leaving them with nothing but broken walls, submerged belongings and the burden of unpaid loans.
In a private housing society near Mohlanwal, houses once built with hope and joy now stand as abandoned ruins — doors broken, walls collapsed and household items ruined by water.
For many residents, the devastation is not limited to property loss; it is also the crushing weight of loans they had taken to build these homes.
Basharat Bibi, her eyes teary, recalled how she had completed her dream house. “The construction had been completed on August 10. We were preparing for a gathering when the floods destroyed everything,” she said.
Her husband, a rickshaw driver, had also been injured after falling during renovation work.
The woman said her family had built the house with loan under the ‘Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar’ scheme.
Not even the first instalment had been repaid, and “ow we are left with nothing but debt,” she said.
The story is the same for Nadeem Iqbal and his brothers, who invested their entire savings into building their home. “The flood washed away all our dreams,” Nadeem said, pointing to murky water pooled in his home.
Another resident, Muhammad Jahangir, said the floodwater had receded but destruction remained etched in every corner. “The furniture is swollen and broken, the doors caked in mud, and electrical appliances rendered useless. When the flood came, the police evacuated everyone and didn’t allow us to take anything along,” he said.
His mother now sits on the rooftop, trying to dry her daughter’s dowry in the sun. “We saved for years to buy this, but everything is ruined,” she lamented.
Jahangir said their solar power inverter had been taken away amid the chaos.
“Many residents here have suffered not only from the destruction caused by the flood but also from thefts. A number of residents face the anxiety of paying back debts obtained for homes that no longer exist.
According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), more than 3,300 villages in Punjab have been affected by flooding in the Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab rivers.
An estimated 3.36 million people have been impacted, including nearly 1.3 million evacuated to safe areas.
Relief camp amenity
Punjab Information Minister Azma Zahid Bokhari has shared on social media fresh photographs and videos of a flood relief camp in Chiniot, showing portable restrooms installed at the site.
The visuals also carry geotags. Earlier, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif had shared a photograph on her social media account, showcasing a modern portable restroom and claiming that it had been installed at the camp. However, users had pointed out that the same image had previously appeared in a 2023 advertisement.
