Hundreds evacuated in northern Pakistan due to flooding from melting glaciers

Dozens of households in northern Pakistan have been evacuated to safer locations due to flash floods from melting glaciers, local media reports.

“Floods have damaged over two dozen homes, hundreds of kanals of land, crops and trees along the Burgi nullah in Skardu,” a city located in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Skardu Deputy Commissioner Sami Khan expressed regret over people building homes and structures in nullahs, or ravines, which has obstructed water flow, according to Dawn.

“These constructions, built with the encouragement of certain individuals, block the natural water flow and divert floodwaters,” Dawn quoted Khan as saying.

He cautioned that measures will be implemented against those responsible for the encroachments and that unauthorized buildings will be torn down.

Water levels have surged in numerous nullahs and rivers across the Gilgit-Baltistan region during the current heat wave, posing a threat of flooding.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) alerted five northern districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of the increased risk of flash floods and landslides due to high temperatures that could spur glacial melting and expected rain.

In Pakistan, which has the most glaciers after the polar regions, nearly all the more than 7,000 glaciers in the mountainous areas are located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the Gilgit-Baltistan region.