Punjab: The slow rebirth of Christian villages submerged by floods

AsiaNews met with residents of Kartarpur, in the district of Narowal, devastated by floods in recent months. For days, people found refuge on the roof of the church, one of the few buildings to have survived the fury of the waters. Thanks to international support and donations collected by a parish in Hong Kong, food, clothing and medicines arrived.

Kartarpur (AsiaNews) - In many areas of Asia, the emergency caused by bad weather shows no sign of abating. Heavy flooding has caused thousands of deaths and displaced millions of people from Indonesia to Sri Lanka, where heavy rains are still falling.

Faced with a crisis situation that, for many, is as devastating as the tsunami of December 2004, there is a region of Pakistan that is trying to recover, albeit with difficulty, from last September's floods that brought large parts of the territory to its knees.

This reconstruction process presents numerous challenges, because the impact of atmospheric phenomena and the climate crisis is not limited to the moment of emergency, but continues over time and requires great commitment and collaboration from the entire population.

In the case of Pakistan, the devastating floods caused immense destruction, leaving thousands of families homeless, hungry and in urgent need of help. Torrential rains washed away homes, livestock and crops, disrupting lives in a matter of hours.

Approximately 1.95 million acres of agricultural land were submerged by water and, two months later, people are still struggling to survive. One of the places symbolising the devastation is Kartarpur, in the district of Narowal (Punjab), where more than 200 Christian families affected by torrential rains and floods live. AsiaNews met with them to hear about their difficulties and their (arduous) attempts at recovery.

Thanks to St Teresa's Church in Hong Kong and international activists who contributed with fundraising and basic necessities, the families were able to receive medicines, warm clothes and food rations.

Over the past three weeks, AsiaNews has visited the villages of Kartarpur and provided them with relief supplies, including warm clothing such as quilts, sheets, pillows, patterned fabrics, and food baskets containing sugar, rice, red chilli peppers, flour, three different types of legumes, cereals, tea, cooking oil, etc. Hygiene kits including sanitary pads, syrups, and various tablets were also distributed. During visits to two reception centres, these supplies were distributed to 160 families from 14 villages in Kartarpur.

Niamat Masih, 45, a resident of the village of Dhodhey Kartarpur, said after receiving the supplies: ‘There are only 17 Christian families in this village, and when the floods hit, it was like a nightmare for us. Our mud houses were destroyed,’ he continued.

"There was one to two metres of water in our homes, but we managed to get all the members of our family onto the roof of the nearby church because it was not built with mud and its structure was more resistant. We spent nine days and nine nights on the roof of the church, we set up a tent and stayed there, continuing to pray and sing hymns. Thank God,‘ she concluded, ’we all survived, but we will never be able to forget those horrible scenes.‘

Shareefan Bibi, 56, a resident of Maddhogol Kartarpur, added: ’ There are about 20 Christian families in our village, and we are all very close-knit. The Ravi River is only two kilometres from our village. It was night-time,‘ the woman recalls, ’when the flood hit our village. We couldn't understand what had happened to us. We were scared, and there was total chaos, with children and women screaming everywhere because the water had entered our mud houses. We all rushed with our children to buildings that were safer than our homes, such as the two churches and two brick houses, where we stayed. I had already seen the floods of 1988 and I also saw this flood of 2025. Both left us in despair and misery."

‘The water level,’ she continues, ‘was about six feet high. We barely managed to save our livestock, but unfortunately many people lost their animals. Before their very eyes, people lost their cows, goats and small buffaloes. They were powerless against the speed and depth of the water. Those days were horrible.’

‘We lost so many things, even our beds and our warm clothes. I am truly grateful to you for your support. If possible, please help us rebuild and renovate our churches and homes. Special thanks and prayers to St Teresa's Church in Hong Kong for the love and support it has shown to us, the poor and oppressed.’