A Strategic Framework for Climate Resilience in Gilgit-Baltistan
By Mishal Jahan
In the summer of 2025, Gilgit-Baltistan suffered one of its harshest flood seasons in recent times. Accelerated glacial melt, compounded by an unprecedented mountain heatwave reaching 48.5 °C and weeks of heavy monsoon rains, set off a chain of disasters: glacial lake outburst floods, landslides, and sudden cloudbursts that left entire valleys cut off. In the Gupis Valley of Ghizer District, a glacial lake burst its banks on August 22, destroying more than 330 homes and creating a temporary lake of about seven kilometers. Further downstream, a mudslide dammed the Ghizer River and threatened catastrophic flooding. In Danyore, seven volunteers died while repairing a drainage channel damaged in an earlier outburst. These tragedies underscored how fragile life in the northern mountains has become.
The scale of destruction has been immense. Over 998 homes were washed away in Gilgit-Baltistan alone, while vital links such as the Karakoram Highway and Jaglot-Skardu Road were blocked for days. At least 45 people in the region lost their lives, with the total national death toll from floods and related disasters since July rising beyond 780. Damages in Gilgit-Baltistan are estimated to exceed Rs 20 billion, marking one of the most devastating flood seasons since 2022. The message is clear: Pakistan’s climate crisis is no longer a distant concern-it is unfolding now, steadily eroding communities, infrastructure, and livelihoods.
The federal government has offered relief.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a Rs 4 billion package for rebuilding, along with compensation for families who lost their homes and loved ones. He also pledged to set up a 100-megawatt solar plant to help the region cope with winter power shortages and promised a new centralized system for weather forecasting to improve preparedness. Federal Minister for Climate Change, Musadik Malik, however, admitted the existing early warning network had failed, citing vandalized equipment and neglected installations. He called for relocating vulnerable settlements under the Land Reforms Bill 2025. These commitments matter, but they still fall short of the proactive, long-term planning the region urgently needs.
Scholars of mountain hazards have long emphasized that disasters in the Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalaya are rarely “natural” in their impacts. In Gilgit-Baltistan, unregulated construction on riverbeds, rampant deforestation, and weak zoning laws have intensified the dangers. Rivers choke with debris, bridges collapse under predictable floods, and glacial lakes remain largely unmonitored despite well-documented risks.
What Gilgit-Baltistan requires now is not another round of short-term relief but a coherent framework for resilience. Early warning must be treated as critical infrastructure, with sustained funding, robust maintenance, and local ownership. Studies from Nepal and Bhutan have shown that when communities themselves operate sirens, radios, and mobile alerts, warnings reach people in time and are acted upon. In a region as dispersed and mountainous as Gilgit-Baltistan, such community-led systems are essential. This truth was evident in Roshan, Ghizer, where a shepherd noticed a sudden surge in the glacial stream and phoned the villages below; his timely call allowed families to evacuate before the flood arrived, saving hundreds of lives. The episode underlines how training ordinary residents-shepherds, farmers, teachers, and volunteers-in basic disaster response can transform scattered settlements into resilient first responders, ensuring that early warnings are not only heard but acted upon.
Land-use planning is another pillar. Relocation, when unavoidable, must not mean uprooting people into poverty. Past resettlement efforts in Pakistan-from Attabad in 2010 to earthquake-hit Kashmir in 2005-have demonstrated how poorly managed relocation deepens vulnerability. To succeed, new settlements must provide access to education, healthcare, markets, and jobs. Only then can people move with dignity rather than desperation.
Preparedness also needs to be decentralized. Time and again, when disasters strike, federal assistance reaches communities only after the damage is already done. District-level centers, equipped with drones, radios, and trained volunteers, could provide immediate response when valleys are cut off. Historical experience shows that local first responders are almost always the first and only line of defense in remote mountain terrain. Institutionalizing this reality is overdue.
Recovery cannot end with housing. Livelihoods must be restored. Agriculture requires investment in flood- and drought-tolerant crops, efficient irrigation, and crop insurance schemes. Tourism, a critical source of income, must shift toward sustainable models that protect fragile landscapes rather than exploit them. International research on mountain economies shows that well-managed eco-tourism strengthens resilience by linking conservation with livelihoods, while unchecked mass tourism accelerates ecological decline.
Institutionally, Gilgit-Baltistan needs a dedicated Climate Resilience Authority to coordinate planning, enforce zoning, and connect local needs with international climate finance. Though Pakistan contributes less than one percent of global emissions, it remains among the most climate-vulnerable countries, and Gilgit-Baltistan’s glaciers are central to the Indus River and the nation’s water security.
Gilgit-Baltistan is no longer only a landscape of beauty; it stands at the frontline of Pakistan’s climate challenge. Here, fragile ecosystems and governance gaps combine to turn natural hazards into repeated emergencies. Each season of floods is both a reminder of what has been lost and a warning of what lies ahead. The task now is to move beyond temporary relief and build lasting resilience. Safeguarding Gilgit-Baltistan is ultimately about protecting the Indus, the lifeline of Pakistan’s water and livelihoods.
About the Author
Mishal Jahan is an environmentalist and writer with a background in Environmental Science. She works in the public sector on climate adaptation and environmental policy, with a particular focus on resilience in vulnerable mountain regions such as Gilgit-Baltistan.
