'Take floodwaters home, store in tubs': Khawaja Asif’s 'bucket plan' for Pakistan's deluge

As Pakistan battles one of the worst flood crises in recent memory, their defence minister Khawaja Asif has managed to float an idea that has left many shaking their heads. In a video that has gone viral, Asif can be heard urging people not to complain about floodwaters but to see them as a “blessing” that can be stored at home in tubs, buckets and containers.

“People who are protesting against the flood-like situation should take the flood waters home,” Asif declared during an interview with Dunya News. “They should store this water at their homes, in tubs, in lakes. We should look at these waters in the form of a blessing and hence should store it.”

The remarks, originally made during earlier flood seasons, have resurfaced at a time when Punjab province is reeling under catastrophic rains. At least 33 people have died, 2,200 villages have been hit and more than 700,000 residents displaced. For those fleeing their submerged homes in Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur and other districts, the idea of stocking up floodwater in buckets may sound like satire rather than disaster management.

Relief teams are working around the clock, shifting thousands of livestock to safer locations, yet anger is mounting on the ground. Irfan Ali Kathia, Director General of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Punjab, confirmed that the province is facing one of the severest floods in its history, with rivers running perilously high. While water levels in the Sutlej near Kasur have started to ease, fresh inflows still threaten districts downstream.