Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday awarded cash prizes to three shepherds from Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), saving about 300 people by warning of an impending ice outbreak in Ghizer in the Ghizer district.
Sharif presented control of RS2.5 million each to Wasit Khan, Ansar and Muhammad Khan in the Prime Minister House in Islamabad and praised their courage and presence of the mind.
“You are the heroes of Gilgit-Baltistan,” the prime minister told them. “Because of your timely action, the whole Pakistani nation, including myself, is proud of you.”
He added: “Your early warning made it possible to evacuated in time and saved hundreds of life. This service action to humanity will always be remembered with golden words.”
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– Pakistan’s government (@govtofpakistan) 25 August 2025
The Prime Minister said the Ministry of Climate Change was working to strengthen the early warning systems in GB. “We create an integrated system so that timely warnings can help avert any emergency or disaster,” he said.
The three shepherds thanked the Prime Minister for the recognition. “With Allah’s blessing, we were able to save lives, and we are grateful to him for this success,” they said.
A local shepherd’s timely warning proved a lifeline for the entire population of Roshan Village in the Ghizer district that saved them from a devastating flash flooding early Friday morning when the state’s frightened flood alerts once again called Hollow, proving a little more than dead weight.
The incident has resumed the debate on the wisdom of original knowledge in the unforgivable terrain in GB, where nature often calls the shots.
Officials confirmed that Roshan, who located about 200 kilometers from Gilgit, was completely submerged. Although no life was lost, the residents lost all their household content and livestock.
Read more: Shepherds Alarm saves the entire village of GB
According to villagers and local authorities, tragedy was only averted because of the shepherd’s presence of mind. While prone to his cattle in the mountains, he noticed signs of an imminent flood.
With the help of his cellphone, which happened to have a working SIM card, he immediately warned the villagers. His timely invitation received a mass evacuation just moments before flooding water increased through the settlement.
“He’s our Savior. We all slept and would have met a tragic fate if he hadn’t informed us,” said Shakir Hussain, resident of Roshan Village. “A simple shepherd did what millions of rupees worth of equipment couldn’t. All the expensive machines in the name” Early Warning “is useless.”
ALSO READ: The death toll from KP — flooding crosses 350
In recognition of his quick thinking, senior police officer Faisal Sultan Sultan Shepherd RS10,000, while the local community Muller over honoring him with a medal.
The vigilance of the shepherd has thrown in sharp relief from the shortcomings of the government’s early warning (EWDs). Despite being installed on a large bill across GB to give timely warnings about floods and glaciers lake outputs (GLOFS), the systems could not sound the alarm during the recent floods claiming 40 lives, leaving many more wounded in areas where the devices were in operation.
The incident in Roshan reflects another event in Gulmit, Gojal, where approx. 60 volunteers managed to escape a flash river at the last minute after traditional observation methods gave them a critical heads-up.
