GILGIT/ISLAMABAD: A sudden glacial lake outburst early Friday morning devastated Rawshan and Tildas villages in Gilgit’s Ghizer district. More than 100 homes were damaged, and farmland, orchards, and key infrastructure were destroyed.
Floodwaters have created an over seven kilometres long artificial lake. Officials fear it could breach, triggering another disaster. The GB government has urged residents to evacuate. Emergency services are on high alert.
According to Faizullah Faraq, spokesperson for the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government, the floodwaters created an artificial lake extending over seven kilometres, while approximately one kilometre of road was swept away by the torrents. Hundreds of residents were forced to evacuate to safer areas.
At least 200 people were rescued by Rescue 1122 teams and local volunteers, who were the first to respond to the disaster. “All stranded individuals have been safely evacuated,” Rescue 1122 stated, adding that medical assistance is being provided to the affected families. Pakistan Army helicopters later joined the ongoing rescue operations.
GB Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan, accompanied by provincial ministers Muhammad Anwar and Rehmat Khaliq, Assembly Speaker Nazir Advocate, and member Nawaz Naji, visited Ghizer to assess the situation. The deputy commissioner briefed the chief minister on the full scale of the damages. “The flood swept through downstream areas at night, destroying homes and crops. Local shepherds living near the glacier had alerted the villagers, enabling timely evacuation,” Faraq said. According to locals, nearly 80 per cent of Rawshan village was washed away.
According to a government statement, “Seventy houses have been completely destroyed. Standing water from the flood debris has expanded over three to four kilometres, threatening additional settlements if the flow is not restored.” Rescue 1122 Gilgit has warned that the natural dam formed at Rawshan could breach, triggering severe flooding. In response, GB Emergency Services personnel from Gilgit and Danyore have been placed on full alert. Under the guidance of the District Emergency Officer, teams have reached Rawshan to conduct relief operations and are informing residents in vulnerable areas through mosque and imambargah announcements about evacuation procedures.
Besides, the authorities have urged residents near the Ghizer River to take precautions and relocate to safer locations. Chief Minister Gulbar Khan directed the GB Home Secretary and the Disaster Management Authority to mobilise all available resources for rescue and relief operations. The glacial lake burst highlights growing concerns over climate change in the region. Pakistan hosts more than 13,000 glaciers, with around 10,000 located in Chitral and GB, reportedly receding due to rising temperatures, thereby increasing the risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). Meanwhile, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued its seventh Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) alert of the 2025 monsoon season, warning of heightened risks in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as fresh rains are expected from August 23 onwards.
Officials confirmed that at least four GLOF incidents have already occurred this season in vulnerable valleys of the two mountainous regions, triggering flash floods, damaging infrastructure, and displacing local populations.
The latest PMD advisory, issued on Friday, cautioned that scattered rains and thunderstorms with isolated heavy falls are likely in glaciated areas of GB and KP. These weather conditions, it noted, could destabilise already swollen glacial lakes and trigger sudden outbursts, flash floods, and landslides.
Local administrations, NDMA, and provincial disaster management authorities have been directed to remain on high alert and take precautionary measures.
According to officials, four confirmed GLOF events have so far struck vulnerable valleys in Chitral (KP), Hunza, Ghizer, and Skardu (GB) since the start of the season. While no major loss of life has been reported, these incidents destroyed homes, cut off road links, and damaged standing crops. The meteorologists have stressed that while the rains were unprecedented in their scale and speed, no “cloudburst” was recorded anywhere in the country. An official of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) clarified that nowhere did rainfall reach the classic definition of a cloudburst — 100 mm of rain in an hour, as set by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
In the opening days of August, the country was parched. Nationally, only 9.8 mm of rain fell, leaving Sindh virtually bone dry with a shocking –99.6 percent deviation as it received just 0.1 mm. Azad Jammu & Kashmir saw the highest rainfall in this phase at 29.6 mm, yet still remained 50 percent below average. Balochistan, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa all recorded sharp deficits ranging from –45 to –58 percent.
Then came the deluge, and between August 11 and 21, heavy showers lashed large parts of the country, rewriting the monsoon picture. Azad Jammu & Kashmir topped the charts with 80.6 mm of rain, 58.7 percent above normal.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was hammered with 63.1 mm (+87.7 percent), while Balochistan flipped from drought to surplus with 18.6 mm (+167.4 percent). Gilgit-Baltistan witnessed the most dramatic swing, with rainfall surging by an extraordinary 235.6 percent — from just 2.5 mm earlier in the month to 15.9 mm. Sindh, which had faced near-total dryness, suddenly recorded 43.3 mm, a surplus of 154.3 percent. Even Punjab, usually moderate in swings, saw 32.7 mm, 10.6 percent above average.
Meteorologists described the abrupt shift as “unprecedented,” warning that such extreme rainfall swings highlight the growing volatility of Pakistan’s monsoon under climate change. Experts said while the rains replenished water resources after an abnormally dry spell, their sheer intensity over short spans increased the risk of flash floods, urban inundation and landslides, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Sindh.
Officials at the PMD stressed that the August rainfall pattern underscored the urgent need for disaster preparedness. “Excessive rainfall in a compressed timeframe can overwhelm drainage and flood protection systems,” they cautioned, urging provincial authorities to stay on alert.