Author: Ijlal Haider, Faras Ghani
Published on: 13/10/2025 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
Wasiyat Khan was woken up by a loud explosion in the middle of the night. As his family sought immediate safety, he thought of the villages which lay in the water’s path. At more than 3,000 metres in the darkness, outside help was impossible to get. The glacial lake outburst flood is a common occurrence in northern Pakistan. NDMA says snowfall across Pakistan in the coming months is projected to be less than average, particularly in areas like Gilgit-Baltistan. A reduced snow cover, it fears, would accelerate glacier retreat by exposing ice earlier in the season, making high-altitude regions more vulnerable to GLOFs. To prevent such occurrences, the government mainly relies on its early warning systems (EWS) natural signs such as sudden heavy rainfall, cloud formations, unusual animal behaviour are still being used to predict flash floods in the absence of the EWS. In one incident, he attempted to light a fire to alert villagers below, but due to daylight and heavy rain, it was ineffective. He then fired his gun three times, a pre-agreed signal indicating danger. The World Bank said in 2023 that the mean temperature in Pakistan since the 1950s has risen by 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.34 degrees Fahrenheit), which is twice as fast as the global mean change. Pakistan faced nearly 90 such floods between 2019 and 2022. ‘Technology alone won’t save lives if SOPs sit buried, rescue checklists gather dust, and trust is missing on the ground’ The UNDP said in February this year that "limited financial resources, technical capacity, data gaps and uncertainties, communication barriers, weak institutional capacities, and complex and evolving climate risks” are just some of the issues facing EWS globally. Wasiyat and two other shepherds from Ghizer were given $28,000 each in August by Pakistan’s prime minister.
Original: 1237 words
Summary: 296 words
Percent reduction: 76.07%