The death toll from the devastating floods in Punjab has risen to 46, with three more fatalities reported between Friday and Saturday. Officials stated that crops on 1.75 lakh hectares of land have been damaged in the deluge. According to the latest reports, more than 3.87 lakh citizens have been impacted by the floods.

Rescue and relief operations are underway on a war footing by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Army, Border Security Force, Punjab Police, and district authorities.

According to reports, a brother and sister drowned in a rain-fed rivulet in Kapurthala district’s Ranipur village on Saturday. The victims were riding a bicycle, which eyewitnesses say skidded off the bridge and fell into the swollen rivulet. Villagers rescued them and rushed them to the local civil hospital, where they were declared dead.

Another incident involved five children who were swept away by the Tangri river in Devigarh block of Patiala. Four of the children managed to escape, but one drowned. The NDRF team recovered the body. It was reported that the children had gone near the Tangri river at Bhuni village in Ambala district for bathing when the incident occurred.

A 50-year-old man from Talli Gulam village in Ferozepur district was killed after being swept away by strong currents in the Sutlej River. The deputy commissioner has released immediate relief for the victim's family and has promised compensation.

The floods, described as the worst in five decades by state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, have affected almost 2,000 villages across all districts. The minister noted that relentless rainfall in Punjab and neighboring hill states has triggered widespread devastation. A total of 1,996 villages in 23 districts have been affected by the floods.

The highest number of deaths has been reported from Hoshiarpur and Amritsar (seven each), followed by Pathankot (six), Barnala (five), Ludhiana and Bathinda (four each), Mansa (three), Gurdaspur, Rupnagar and SAS Nagar (two each), while one death each has been reported from Patiala, Sangrur, Fazilka and Ferozepur. Three people are still missing in Pathankot.

The floods are a result of swollen rivers, including the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi, along with seasonal rivulets, following heavy rainfall in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Recent heavy rains in Punjab have further intensified the situation.

The water level in the Pong dam marginally dipped but remained above its upper limit. The water inflow also declined, while the outflow remained unchanged. In the case of the Bhakra dam, the water level also decreased slightly, with the inflow and outflow at 62,481 cusecs and 52,000 cusecs, respectively.