Punjab

Historic floods devastate communities in Punjab

By: Heidi Kwok, Staff Writer Content warning: mention of suicides. The Indian state of Punjab has been facing severe flooding, the worst since 1988, due to intense monsoon rainfall. As of late June, an estimated 1,900 villages and 400,000 acres of farmland are submerged, and around 300,000 people remain under evacuation alerts. Since August, the disaster has displaced a total of 1.3 million people.  The flooding of agricultural lands was further worsened by overflowing rivers and the Indian government’s decision to release water from overwhelmed dams. In Pakistan’s Punjab province, similar record floods have led to the loss of 118…

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