Flood risk bulges with the melting of glaciers in Pakistan. In the last month, in Hassanabad, a tiny village where its residents observed floodwaters hastily rising in the stream that runs their homes, carrying water from the towering Shishper glacier.
Flood risk bulges with the melting of glaciers in Pakistan. In the last month, in Hassanabad, a tiny village where its residents observed floodwaters hastly rising in the stream that runs their homes, carrying water from the towering Shishper glacier.
Ghulam Qadir, a resident of Hassanabad expressed that the flow became so intense that they gradually eroded the land and reached 10 feet from his family’s home. Hence he evacuated the place.
The flood deeply affected the food sources in Hassanabad. The flood carrying huge boulders from the melted glacier destroyed orchards of cherry, walnut and apricots. It cracked house buildings to a huge extent. Moreover, great damage came to over sixteen families residing peacefully in tents and local irrigation and hydro-power systems.
The resident Qadir said, “The flood water broke all the retaining walls that were built last year in order to protect the village.”. He further added: “Now there is a ravine right next to our houses and we live in dread of another flood.”
As this region is one of the 24 valleys in the Northern part of Pakistan that will receive warning systems, between 2018 and 2022, for glacial lake outburst floods using $37 million in funding from the Green Climate Fund.
At last Qadir said that he believes that the elongation is partially because of the outbreak of Corona virus and partially because United Nations Development Programme Pakistan (UNDP) would not finalize the letter of agreement signed with the Ministry of Climate Change, which can be giving us oversight over the hiring of staff and some other matters.”