India launches water attack, floods Pakistan, death toll in Pakistan rises to 881 people
According to Pakistani media on September 4, 2025, India released floodwaters into the Sutlej River, the Tawi River, and the Chenab River without prior notice, causing flooding in many areas of Punjab Province in Pakistan, and the disaster situation rapidly expanded.
Official data shows that the national death toll has risen to 881 people, with hundreds of thousands of people displaced.
The Pakistan Water Resources Department stated that India's action did not notify through the official channels of the Indus Waters Treaty, but instead informed via diplomatic means afterward. This approach put downstream disaster prevention efforts at a disadvantage and was suspected to be a form of water warfare.
From the distribution of the disaster, the core agricultural areas of Punjab Province such as Muzaffargarh, Multan, and Chiniot were the most severely affected, with thousands of villages submerged by floodwaters.
Monitoring by the Flood Control Room showed that the water levels of the Chenab River and the Sutlej River continued to rise sharply, with inflow into dams such as Malara, Kanki, and Kadira reaching record highs in recent years.
A large amount of mature farmland was completely destroyed, resulting in heavy losses in rice, corn, and vegetable production.
For a country heavily dependent on agriculture, this is not only an immediate relief issue, but could also evolve into a long-term food crisis.
In the affected areas, millions of residents were forced to evacuate urgently, and the emergency shelters were overcrowded, with extreme shortages of drinking water, food, and medical resources, leading to a rapid increase in the risk of infectious disease outbreaks.
Under the long-term tense geopolitical situation between India and Pakistan, this release of water does appear to be using the control rights of upstream dams to create catastrophic consequences at critical moments.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1842393481182220/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.