Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Gilgit-Baltist on Monday and was chairman of a high-level meeting to review the damage caused by recent heavy rain, flash floods and cloudbursts in the region.
He was received by Governor Syed Mehdi Shah, who informed him of the extent of destruction caused by persistent rainfall, including landslides and floods.
The Prime Minister expressed grief over the losses and said Gilgit-Baltistan had suffered significant damage due to extreme weather events.
He reiterated that Pakistan is among the countries most affected by climate change, despite contributing minimally to global carbon emissions.
Shehbaz emphasized that the effects of climate change intensify every year and called for urgent, effective measures to fight them.
He said the Ministry of Climate Change has been instructed to take immediate action.
He declared the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) an important national institution and noted that federal agencies are working closely with the Gilgit-Baltist government to accelerate relief and rescue operations.
The Prime Minister also received a soil level briefing on the situation and was informed of the status of ongoing development projects in the region as well as efforts from the local administration to control the crisis.
The meeting discussed the launch of a Danish school in Gilgit-Baltistan, where Prime Minister Shehbaz confirms that the project would soon be implemented to improve the education standards.
Both leaders offered prayers to those who lost their lives in the floods. The Prime Minister expressed deep concern about the damage to infrastructure, home and livelihood and insured the region of the federal government’s full support.
Tourists among dead as an emergency declared in 37 flooding areas
The GB government declared an emergency in 37 areas throughout the mountainous region after flooding claimed at least 10 lives, most of them tourists, leaving several others missing.
Read: Emergency declared in 37 GB of flooding areas
Four people were reported wounded, while at least one dozen more remain unattended, with rescue operations that are ongoing.
According to a review issued by the GB Home Department, the affected locations range eight districts, including diamer, Gilgit, Ghizer, Skardu, Shigar, Ghande, Nagar and Kharmang.
Whole villages are flooded, roads flushed away, and home is reduced to rubble as raised rivers rose through valleys with scary force.
“People have suffered losses that include loss of human life, livestock, injuries to houses, infrastructure and standing crops,” reads the notification, invoking the law of national accidents (prevention and relief), 1958.
GB government spokesman Faizullah Faraq confirmed that 22 vehicles had been swept away and 509 houses were destroyed in the floods.
Flash flooding claims 299 lives throughout Pakistan since the end of June
While GB carries the instant brown, the wider image over Pakistan is just as alarming. According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), floods and stormy rain have since June 26 killed 299 people nationwide, including 140 children.
Read more: Flash floods killed 299 over Pakistan since June 26: NDMA
Another 715 individuals have been injured, while over 1,600 houses have either been damaged or destroyed. The loss of 428 livestock has further elaborated on the difficulties of affected families.
NDMA has performed 223 rescue operations and evacuated almost 2,900 people from flooding areas.
Thousands of important reliefs, including tents, hygiene sets, lunches and de-water pumps, have been sent to affected communities. Medical teams have treated hundreds across 71 emergency camps.
From August 4 onwards, a fresh monsoon wave is expected to intensify, which increases the risk of flash flooding, landslides and glaciers floods in vulnerable regions.
