Glacial melt threatens Pakistan’s Hindu Kush communities as GLOF risk rises

For generations, summer in Pakistan’s picturesque Golen Valley, more than 20 kilometres northeast of Chitral, brought cool mountain air, lush meadows and visitors eager to fish for trout and enjoy the scenery.

But in recent years, summer has become a season of fear for local residents as rapidly melting glaciers form unstable lakes high in the mountains, raising the risk of devastating glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).

On July 7, 2019, one such lake burst its banks, sending floodwaters through Golen Valley, destroying homes and orchards and damaging the 108MW Golen Gol Hydropower Project. The disaster left the district without electricity for several days. Another GLOF struck the valley the following year.

With more than 80 potentially dangerous glacial lakes across the region, communities in the Hindu Kush are increasingly vulnerable to sudden floods triggered by melting ice and extreme weather.

In July this year, heavy rain again sparked fear among villagers. Golen resident Safia Bibi told Dawn that residents initially feared another flood as rain lashed the valley. Memories of the 2020 disaster remain vivid for her.

That year, Safia fled through heavy rain carrying her one-year-old daughter as a GLOF swept through her village, carrying huge boulders and debris. Part of her under-construction house was badly damaged. Months later, her husband bought land in a neighbouring village so the family could move away from the continuing threat.

Golen is far from alone. Remote communities across the Hindu Kush are confronting similar dangers as rising temperatures and extreme weather disrupt environments in which people have lived for centuries.

Once protected by their geographical isolation and accustomed to living alongside the mountains, these communities now find themselves on the frontline of a growing climate crisis.

Data released by Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) through its “Space4Climate” portal has highlighted growing concerns over the impact of glacier loss and climate change on millions of people living across the Hindu Kush.