250 engineering structures being built to mitigate impacts of GLOFs

Islamabad: The government is developing 250 engineering structures including dams, ponds, spillways, and drainage systems to reduce the risk of floods under a multi-billion project Scaling-up of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk reduction in Northern Pakistan.

According to the details, the climate change ministry is also coordinating with the Gilgit-Baltistan government and they are using Digital Terrain Model (DTM) to calculate the glacial lake volume to develop GLOF simulation to anticipate downstream risk.

The details revealed that both of them are also making concerted efforts to develop disaster management policies and install weather monitoring stations, flood gauges, hydrological modelling, and early warning systems to enhance the ability to respond rapidly to flood scenarios.

The official data revealed that “The melting of the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalayan glaciers due to rising temperatures have created 3,044 glacial lakes in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said “We are doing whatever is possible to ensure safety of the people living close to those glacial lakes that are quite vulnerable to negative impacts of the climate change.”

He said: “The climate change and human activities have resulted in the receding of glaciers and GLOFs are amongst the most common climate change induced hazards in northern areas.”

The glaciers are receding at a high pace due to which less snow is accumulated and these gradual variations are leading to the development of new water bodies and the extension of old lakes that can pose a great threat to downstream vulnerable communities in the case of GLOF, he said.