Glacial Melt Endangers Homes in Mountain Valley

Komal’s daily vista featured rugged, imposing mountains and the river’s flow dozens of meters beneath her family’s cliffside residence. This changed when the water transformed into a powerful torrent, eroding the land supporting their home. “It was a sunny day,” states Komal, 18. Her family had resided for generations amidst the orchards and verdant landscapes within the core of the Hunza valley, situated in the Karakorum mountains of the Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan region. “In the morning everything was normal, I went to school,” Komal recounts, “but then my teacher told me that Hassanabad bridge had collapsed.” A glacial lake had developed upstream and subsequently burst, unleashing water, boulders, and debris that surged down the valley, accelerating as it went. The earth shook with such intensity that some individuals believed an earthquake was occurring. Upon impact with the cement bridge linking the two sections of the village, the torrent reduced it to rubble. “By the time I came home, people were taking what they could out of their home,” Komal states. She collected books, laundry, and whatever else she could transport, yet she recalls believing that their house, being so elevated above the water, could not possibly be impacted. This perception changed after they received a phone call from the opposite side of the valley; their neighbors observed the water eroding the hillside where their residence was located. Subsequently, the houses started to collapse. “I remember my aunt and uncle were still inside their home when the flood came and washed out the whole kitchen,” she recounts. The family managed to reach secure ground, but their residences vanished over the precipice. Currently, traversing the grey debris and dust, one can still find coat hooks on the wall, some tiles in the bathroom, and a window from which the glass has long since disappeared. Two years have passed, yet no vegetation has emerged on the eroding cliff that was formerly Komal’s garden in Hassanabad. “This used to be all a green place,” she remarks. “When I visit this place I remember my childhood memories, the time I spent here. But the barren places, they hurt me, they make me feel sad.” Researchers indicate that climate change is transforming the landscape throughout Gilgit-Baltistan and adjacent Chitral. This area is part of what some term the Third Pole, a region possessing more ice than any other global location apart from the polar zones. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development reports that if present emission levels persist, Himalayan glaciers might diminish by as much as two-thirds of their volume before the close of this century. The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) states that over 48,000 individuals in Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral face a significant risk from lake outbursts or landslides. Certain communities, such as the village of Badswat in the adjacent district of Ghizer, are in such extreme danger that they are undergoing complete evacuation to comparative safety, their residences having become uninhabitable. “Climate change has increased the intensity and frequency of disasters across the region,” explains Deedar Karim, who serves as programme co-ordinator for the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat. “These areas are highly exposed. With the increase in temperature, there are more discharges (of water) and then more flooding. It’s causing damage to infrastructure, houses, agricultural lands; every infrastructure has been damaged by these increasing floods. “The rainfall pattern is changing. The snowfall pattern is changing and then the melting of the glacier is changing. So it’s changing the dynamics of hazards.” Relocating populations presents complexities; numerous individuals have inhabited their land for centuries and are reluctant to depart, while identifying an alternative safe location with dependable water access is also challenging. “We have very limited land and limited resources. We don’t have common lands to shift people to,” states Zubair Ahmed, assistant director of the Disaster Management Authority in Hunza and Nagar district. “I can say that after five or 10 years, it will be very difficult for us to even survive. Maybe people will realise after a few years or decades, but by then it will be too late. So I think this is the right time, although we are still late, but even now this is the time to think about it.” Pakistan ranks among the nations most susceptible to climate change, despite contributing less than 1% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. “We cannot stop these events, because this is a global issue,” Mr Ahmed remarks. “All we can do is mitigate and get our people prepared to face such events.” In Passu village, located slightly over an hour’s drive from Hassanabad, an evacuation drill is being conducted as preparation for potential devastation. The residents understand that in an emergency, external assistance might take days to reach them if roads and bridges are obstructed, damaged, or washed away. Equipped with training in first aid, river crossing, and high mountain rescue, volunteers practice village evacuations multiple times annually, transporting simulated casualties on stretchers and bandaging mock injuries. Ijaz has served as a volunteer for the past two decades, possessing numerous accounts of rescuing lost hikers in the mountains. However, he also expresses concern regarding the multitude of hazards and the heightened unpredictability of weather conditions in his home region. “The weather now, we just can’t say what will happen,” he states. “Even five years ago, the weather didn’t change as much. Now after half an hour we can’t say what it will be.” He also recognizes the limitations of what his volunteer team can accomplish. “Unfortunately, if the flood comes and it’s a heavy flood we can’t do anything,” he explains. “The area is totally washed out. If it’s small then we can help people survive and escape the flood areas.” Additional mitigation strategies are implemented throughout the region, including stone and wire barriers designed to impede floodwater, systems for monitoring glacier melt, rainfall, and water levels, and speakers placed in villages to alert the community to impending danger. Nevertheless, many local workers assert a need for increased resources. “We have installed early warning systems in some valleys,” Mr Ahmed reports. “These were identified by the Pakistan Meteorological Department and they gave us a list of around 100 valleys. But because of limited resources, we are only able to intervene in 16.” He mentions that discussions are underway to broaden this initiative. Sultan Ali, now in his 70s, resides a few houses away from Komal. While conversing on a traditional charpoy bed, his granddaughters offered a plate of pears harvested from their garden. He is aware that another flood could cause his home to vanish into the valley, yet he states he has no alternative place to live. “As I approach the end of my life, I feel helpless,” he confides. “The children are very worried, they ask where will we live?“We have no options. If the flood comes, it will take everything away and there’s nothing we can do about it. I can’t blame anyone; it’s just our fate.” We observed his grandchildren playing tag beneath the orchard’s shade. The seasons, the ice, and the surrounding environment are undergoing transformation. What will this landscape resemble when they mature? Komal, similarly, is uncertain about what the future entails. “I don’t think we will stay here forever,” she remarks. “The condition is clear already. But the question for us is we have no other place to go. Only this.” Additional reporting and imagery were provided by Kamil Khan. The complete documentary is available for viewing on iPlayer. Copyright 2024 BBC. 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