GILGIT: A glacial lake outburst flood has devastated Tali Das village in Ghizer district, Gilgit-Baltistan, leaving widespread destruction in its wake and displacing hundreds of families.
Officials said the torrent, triggered by the sudden bursting of a glacier lake, flattened more than 100 homes in Tali Das, reducing much of the settlement to rubble. The floodwaters also dammed the River Ghizer, forming an artificial lake that has endangered over 900 additional houses downstream. Emergency services remain on alert as authorities fear further damage if the lake breaches its banks.
Local officials voiced concern that nearby villages could face imminent risk. “The situation is precarious,” one administrator said, warning that the lake’s overflow could unleash another destructive surge.
This latest disaster comes only days after a similar outburst in Ghizer district on 23 August, when a kilometre-long stretch of road was swept away and a seven-kilometre area submerged, severing road links between multiple settlements. At the time, the Shandur Road was also closed following a landslide triggered by the flooding.
The Pakistan Army and Rescue 1122 teams moved swiftly in both incidents, evacuating families from low-lying areas along the Gilgit River and providing medical care to the injured. Rescue officials confirmed that during the Tali Das outburst, at least 200 residents were pulled to safety after floodwaters blocked the river, raising fears of a catastrophic breach.
Villagers described scenes of terror and despair as the waters surged through Tildas and Rawshan, sweeping away homes, farmland, and livestock. One resident likened the destruction to “a biblical flood,” noting that nearly 80 percent of his community had been erased within hours.
The Ghizer River remained blocked for almost eight hours before spilling over, though the risk of a sudden collapse remains high.
Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) — sudden, destructive releases of water from glacier lakes — have become increasingly common across northern Pakistan. The country, with more than 13,000 glaciers, holds the largest concentration outside the polar regions, making its mountain communities among the most vulnerable.
Just this month, a GLOF from the Shishper Glacier washed away a section of the Karakoram Highway in Hassanabad, while another in Bagrot Valley killed one man and injured his father.
For the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, each new outburst is a reminder of their precarious existence in a region where retreating glaciers have turned survival into a constant test.
