Flash Floods Devastate Skardu and Shigar in Pakistan-Occupied Gilgit Baltistan
Severe flash floods have hit the outskirts of Skardu and Shigar districts in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan, causing extensive damage to homes, farms, and infrastructure. The local administration has failed to provide any rescue or help for the affected residents.
The floods have destroyed private property and houses worth millions. Most of the local population depends on agriculture for their income, making the impact even more severe. Acres of land, local houses, and farms with harvest-ready crops have been submerged, and over a dozen houses have been destroyed. The already poor road infrastructure has also been further damaged.
A local resident from Skardu expressed frustration, saying, “I sometimes don’t understand what the benefit of all this so-called rescue effort is if this will all go in vain next year. This is not the first time that flash floods have destroyed our area and we have been forced to fight them. This happens every year. It is better that the government build a better countermeasure for such floods and increase the width of the nearby irrigation channel so that these flash floods can be avoided and our houses are not destroyed. It is better to finish the work properly for once, rather than doing it in bits and pieces.”
Another local, Shakir Hussain, tearfully told a reporter, “No one will come here to help and our houses will get destroyed. We are trying to deviate from the water by ourselves. You can very well see that our farms and our houses have been destroyed in these floods.”
Shaukat Ali, a resident of a village in Shigar, recounted, “Early morning around 7 o’clock when the flood came followed by loud sounds which sounded like mine blasts we rushed to save our children and other family members. I tried to save my vehicle, but it could not start afterwards my vehicle was carried by the flood waves and was destroyed. We had stored grains and other food items for the winters in our basement but the water destroyed all that, and the cattle owned by my family also are nowhere to be found.”
With the upcoming rainy season, the threat of future floods remains a significant concern for the residents, who may have to face displacement or fight to protect their belongings once again.
