Glacial and Flash Floods Leave Gilgit-Baltistan Stranded and Desperate

Residents in Gilgit-Baltistan are in dire straits as government indifference leaves them struggling after devastating glacial and flash floods. With water supply disrupted, they have been waiting for essential services, according to a report by Dawn.

In Ghizer's tehsils, the community remains cut off for the fourth consecutive day due to the flooded Gilgit-Shandur Road, transformed into an artificial lake after a glacial burst. A local resident reported that over 300 houses succumbed to the floodwaters, while villagers endure without electricity, drinkable water, housing, or medical aid. Early Friday, a glacial lake outburst flood triggered a catastrophic landslide, devastating Rawshan and Tildas villages.

This calamity exacerbates an alarming series of glacial lake outburst floods this season in PoGB and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with experts attributing the growing frequency of such events to rising temperatures accelerating glacier melt. According to the UN, the risk of further disasters persists, with severe weather expected till early September.