PoGB villages face imminent threat due to climate change as administration ignores residents’ appeals

The Passu and Shigar areas in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB) for the past several days have witnessed an unprecedented threat due to severe flow in the Hunza and Shigar rivers due to heatwave and the melting of glaciers, caused by climate change, Pamir Times reported.

The calamity has triggered severe erosion, putting the general public and property at great risk. Currently, the Hunza and Shigar rivers are now flowing at alarming levels. As of now, these rivers have caused severe damage to settlements surrounding Passu and Shigar.

Moreover, landscapes now stand on the brink of further destruction as the river relentlessly erodes its banks, destroying several houses and property in its way, the Pamir Times report mentioned.

Residents of these areas have appealed to the government, calling for immediate intervention to protect the remaining parts of their village. According to the Pamir Times report an elderly woman from the Passu village while pointing towards the river said in the local language “Those areas used to be our orchards and fields, but the water has submerged them. Now, only a small part of our old settlement remains. My family has had to move our houses and cattle sheds multiple times, and now my home is under threat once again.”

Another individual Aman Ullah whose house remains merely a few feet away from the raging river mentioned: “The village Passu has a historical significance in the region, I am very old now but I have several memories that were formed around these river banks but now it seems that all those memories have been submerged in the river and are sacrificed”.

Another resident of the Passu village mentioned “Now the river is merely 20 feet away from our houses and the situation remains critical. This has been happening for a long time and this has destroyed at least the homes and lands of 65 families”.

Another resident mentioned that this area was significant in terms of trade, a full-scale natural calamity would destroy a lot of lives.

Rehan Shah, a prominent political activist, in the Pamir Times report, called upon the government by saying “Our areas a situated near the Karakoram highway and this is how we are treated. I have witnessed an entire village disappearing slowly as it was facing slow destruction each day. This all happened when we were raising continuous complaints with the administration for building walls that could have saved us. And they betrayed us every time, and now our houses are in danger”.

According to the Pamir Times report climate experts had long warned about the impacts of global warming on the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges stating that glaciers were melting at accelerated rates. The situation in these villages demands an urgent need for comprehensive climate action and disaster preparedness strategies in Gilgit-Baltistan.