Smog Then Floods: Pakistani Families 'Can't Catch A Break'

A woman stands near her submerged home, after floodwaters entered from the overflowing Ravi river in Shahdara, Lahore on August 29, 2025. Water has gushed into the eastern province, Pakistan's breadbasket and home to about half of its 255 million people, with three transboundary rivers swelling beyond their banks. (Credit: AFP)

Perched on her neighbour's rooftop, Ghulam Bano gazes down at the remains of her home, submerged in murky, foul-smelling floodwater that has engulfed much of Pakistan's Punjab region.

Monsoon rains this week swelled three transboundary rivers that cut through Pakistan's eastern province, the nation's agricultural heartland and home to nearly half of its 255 million people.