Several areas in Gilgit-Baltistan's Ghizer district cut off for fifth day

Large parts of Gilgit-Baltistan’s Ghizer district remained cut off for the fifth straight day on Tuesday after monsoon-triggered floods and landslides blocked key routes.

Residents said that most of Ghizer’s tehsils, including Gupis, Phander and Yasin, have been blocked after five kilometres of the Gilgit-Shandur road was submerged by an artificial lake that formed at Raushan village.

They said that around 300 houses were damaged as the lake inundated homes in Hakis, Thangi and Raushan.

The residents said that hundreds of people have been displaced when a glacial lake outburst flood swept through Tildas village, adding that survivors were without electricity, clean water, shelter and medical care.

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On Monday, two critically ill patients were airlifted from Gupis to Gilgit by an Aga Khan Development Network helicopter, according to the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat.

Roads remain blocked in Khalti, Daen, Chatorkhand and Yasin. The Karakoram Highway at Hassanabad, Hunza, has been closed for three weeks after a GLOF from the Shishper glacier submerged part of the highway and destroyed homes and farmland.

In Nagar’s Hisper valley, residents have been isolated for a month after river erosion and landslides blocked the only road. Gilgit’s Haramosh and Bagrot valleys are also inaccessible due to flood damage.