Pakistani authorities are struggling to stop their biggest lake from bursting its banks after last-ditch attempts to lower water levels failed.
Manchar Lake, in Sindh province, is dangerously full after record monsoons that inundated a third of Pakistan.
Three breaches of the lake’s banks so far – two to protect areas nearby – have displaced over 100,000 people.
But it could still overflow and rescue teams are racing to evacuate many more people who remain at risk of drowning.
Floods in Pakistan have affected some 33 million people and killed at least 1,314, including 458 children, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Agency said.
Estimates suggest the floods have caused at least $10bn (£8.5bn) of damage.
Sindh province produces half of the country’s food supply, exacerbating fears of serious food shortages in a country already struggling with an economic crisis.
Pakistani Navy rescue people affected by floods in Khairpur Nathan Shah, Dadu district, Sindh province, Pakistan, 03 September 2022.
On Sunday, officials breached Manchar lake after it had flooded two rural towns. The hope was the move would prevent it from further bursting its banks and inundating more densely-populated areas.
The move affected an estimated 400 villages – a total of 135,000 people. The decision to deliberately flood some villages is a controversial one – the lake straddles two districts, Dadu and Jamshoro, both home to hundreds of thousands of people, and about 80% of the region is underwater.
Now residents near the lake are using government machinery to strengthen embankments to try to avoid a catastrophic, unplanned overspill.
“There are three breaches in the lake, two by plan, one is unplanned breach. It is our target that our big cities, towns, we can save them,” Sindh’s minister of irrigation Jam Khan Shoro told the BBC’s Newshour programme.
Villagers were warned to evacuate before the planned breaches. But local sources say not everyone was taken to safety in time – some didn’t want to leave their homes or livestock, a lifeline for many in rural communities, and there are few places for them to go.
