Gilgit-Baltistan and Climate Change: The Rising Toll and the Urgency to End Negligence

Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), a breathtaking mountainous region in northern Pakistan, stands as one of the most fragile and climate-vulnerable areas on Earth. This region, home to some of the world’s largest glaciers outside the poles, provides essential water resources feeding the Indus River system, a lifeline for millions across Pakistan. Yet, climate change is rapidly transforming this breathtaking landscape into a zone of escalating disasters, while local governance negligence and the national media’s silence deepen the vulnerability of its people and environment.

Climate Change’s Impact: A Crisis Intensified

Scientists have confirmed that Gilgit-Baltistan is warming at nearly double the global average, accelerating glacier melt and triggering an increase in extreme weather events — flash floods, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), landslides, droughts, and heatwaves. The region’s predominantly agrarian population, over 80% depend on subsistence farming, faces destroyed orchards, eroding soils, and irregular water availability, threatening food security and livelihoods.

The consequences became tragically clear in the past month. In July 2025, relentless monsoon rains, cloudbursts, and glacial lake floods wreaked havoc across Babusar, Hunza, Gilgit, Ghizer, and other districts. These events caused devastating loss of life, destruction of homes and infrastructure, and disruption of critical transport and trade routes.

The July 2025 Flood Disaster: Gilgit Baltistan

At Babusar Top and along the Babusar Road in Diamer district, a powerful cloudburst unleashed torrent of water, causing flash floods and landslides. The calamity killed at least three tourists, left over 15 missing, and swept away dozens of vehicles. Roads and bridges suffered severe damage, closing vital routes that connect the region and hampering rescue operations due to treacherous conditions.

Hunza’s Gojal region bore the brunt of flooding triggered by a melting glacier in Gulmit. Damage to agricultural lands, irrigation systems, homes, and several wooden bridges along the Karakoram Highway (KKH) disrupted both local livelihoods and the critical trade artery between Pakistan and China. The floods claimed at least 15 lives in Hunza alone.

In Gilgit District, floodwaters struck heavily in Danyore, damaging more than 60 houses, administrative buildings, markets, and power infrastructure. The Manogah Nallah area in Danyore became a focal point for rescue operations involving stranded residents. At least six lives were lost in Gilgit District overall, with over 100 homes destroyed and critical road links severed.

Ghizer district was declared a state of emergency after floods swept away 22 vehicles, destroyed 509 homes, damaged farmland, and inflicted immense infrastructure damage. The estimated economic toll across affected GB districts like Ghizer, Gilgit, Diamer, Nagar, and Skardu stands around Rs 20 billion, with emergency relief efforts underway.

Local Government’s Continuing Negligence

Despite clear signs of escalating climate threats, the response from local authorities remains inadequate and reactive. Infrastructure is weak, disaster preparedness is poor, and long-term climate adaptation policies are either absent or poorly implemented. Frequent hours-long power outages plague communities, rural electrification projects lag, and sustainable resource management is often overlooked.

Relief efforts during disasters, although important, lack proactive planning, leaving local communities vulnerable year after year. Forestry and water management systems have yet to be modernized or effectively managed to build resilience. This government inaction fuels human suffering during natural disasters and impairs recovery efforts.

The National Media’s Silence and Its Consequences

While Gilgit-Baltistan experiences mounting climate chaos, national media coverage remains sporadic and alarm driven only during major events. Continuous and informed reporting on the region’s climate challenges is noticeably absent from mainstream news agendas, diminishing the public’s understanding and urgency.

Journalistic capacity constraints, resource shortages, and competing priorities lead to a blind spot for high altitude environmental crises, weakening the pressure on authorities to act. Without a vibrant and consistent media spotlight, both governance accountability and public engagement suffer.

The Way Forward: Urgent Collective Action Needed

Gilgit-Baltistan’s precarious future demands immediate, concerted action:

• Local governments must prioritize and enforce climate-resilient policies around water and forestry management to stabilize the environment.
• Investment in disaster risk reduction infrastructure and early warning systems tailored for mountain regions needs urgent acceleration.
• Renewable energy and rural electrification programs must be expanded to reduce environmental impacts and improve the quality of life.
• Media organizations should empower reporters with training and resources to provide ongoing, nuanced coverage of the climate crisis.
• Community participation in adaptation programs and ecosystem stewardship should be deepened, respecting indigenous knowledge and local leadership.
• National policymakers and international partners must recognize GB as a strategic environmental asset requiring research, funding, and technology transfer support.

Conclusion: A Call to Break the Cycle of Negligence

Gilgit-Baltistan’s stunning natural heritage and its people are at a critical crossroads. The July 2025 floods, devastating Babusar, Hunza, Gilgit’s Danyore, Ghizer, and other districts, starkly reveal the real and rising dangers posed by climate change. The compounded failures of local governance and insufficient media attention do not just heighten the human toll but threaten Pakistan’s broader water security and disaster resilience.

This crisis demands that we break free from neglect and silence. Only through informed, empathetic, and proactive efforts at all levels can Gilgit-Baltistan hope to adapt to the climate emergency and safeguard its future.

The time to act decisively is now for the survival of a region that is both a national treasure and a global environmental barometer.