Concern expressed at increasing cloudbursts, flash floods

ABBOTTABAD: Environmentalists have raised alarm over the increasing frequency of cloudbursts and flash floods across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, warning that the region is fast approaching a climate catastrophe due to rampant deforestation, degraded ecosystems, and poor land management.

Recent data revealed that Pakistan has lost significant forest cover, which has now shrunk to just 18 percent over the last three decades, while pasture productivity in KP has fallen to only 20–30 percent of its natural potential.

This degradation, experts said, is directly contributing to deadly weather events such as landslides, flash floods, and sudden cloudbursts.

Environmental experts pointed to three interlinked causes behind the intensifying disasters in KP: large-scale deforestation, ineffective land and water management, and excessive overgrazing.

“Forests act as natural climate stabilizers. Without them, mountain regions heat up 5 to 8°C more than forested areas,” said Dr Mumtaz Malik, a noted environmentalist and former Chief Conservator of Wildlife KP.

“This rapid heating fuels the upward movement of monsoon air, leading to sudden condensation and violent cloudbursts,” he added.

He explained that the loss of forest cover also reduces the land’s ability to absorb rainwater. Instead of soaking into the soil, heavy rains now rush down barren slopes, triggering flash floods and landslides.

Dr. Malik cited the recent disaster in Buner, which damaged homes, crops, and infrastructure, as just one example of many such incidents.

An educationist and former chairman of the Department of Environmental Sciences at COMSATS University Islamabad, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Maroof Shah, stressed that forests are far more than ecological assets—they are critical to national security.

“They stabilize slopes, regulate rainfall, recharge groundwater, and reduce heat stress. Without them, we risk ecological collapse,” he said.

He warned that barren hills created by ruthless deforestation are now acting as heat pockets, fundamentally altering the region’s monsoon dynamics.

“Instead of slow, steady rains, we’re now witnessing extreme, localized downpours—cloudbursts—that are much harder to predict and control,” he added.

As the region braces for the upcoming monsoon season, observers said the coming weeks would be critical in determining whether KP can reverse its current trajectory—or sink deeper into ecological and governance collapse.