At least 30 people have died and more than 354,000 have been affected by incessant heavy rains and floods in the north Indian state of Punjab.
Authorities have declared all of the state's 23 districts flood-hit, after rivers and reservoirs swelled to near-danger levels.
Some 20,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying and flood-affected areas, with hundreds of relief camps set up to provide shelter and essential facilities to the affected families.
Appealing to the country to 'stand by the state', Punjab's Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said these were the worst floods the state had seen since 1988.
Punjab is regarded as the 'food basket' of India, contributing significantly to agricultural production, especially for staples like wheat and rice. However, reports indicate extensive crop damage, with approximately 148,000 hectares of farmland inundated.
The flooding, exacerbated by unusually heavy rains, has placed many low-lying areas and reservoirs at critical risk. The Indian government has initiated extensive rescue operations involving multiple disaster response teams, including the army, airforce, and navy, deploying over 100 boats and 35 helicopters.
Chief Minister Mann visited affected districts by boat and sought additional funds from the federal government to support recovery efforts. Neighboring regions, especially in Pakistan's Punjab province, are experiencing similar flooding crises, impacting approximately two million individuals.
These extraordinary weather patterns have raised alarms, with meteorological insights linking the flooding to unusual interactions between monsoon currents and westward disturbances.
