GILGIT: The increasing water level in the Khunj­erab River washed away a portion of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in the Murkhoon area of Gojal in Hunza on Friday, as flash floods triggered by rapidly melting glaciers, glacial lake outburst floods, landslides and cloudbursts continued to batter Gilgit-Baltistan.

The washing away of the KKH section disconnected road access between upper Gojal and the rest of Gilgit-Baltistan and cut off the main land route between Pakistan and China.

The KKH was later reopened to traffic via a temporary alternative route, GB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said. He added that the flow of water in rivers across the region has risen sharply, threatening further road blockages and damage in downstream areas.

“Due to the increase in the flow of water in rivers, the government has ban­ned boat operations and Section 144 is in force,” he said. A search is underway for tourists who went missing after a boat capsized in Skardu on Tuesday. “Action is being taken against those who take tourists out on lakes by boat despite the ban,” Mr Faraq added.

Meanwhile, two people were killed and two others injured when a landslide struck during restoration work on the Fairy Meadows road in Diamer district.

Mr Faraq said the victims, identified as Saddam Hussein and Nisar Bashir, were residents volunteering to reopen the road, which has been blocked since July 20 due to heavy flooding.

The injured, whose identities could not be immediately confirmed, were taken to the government hospital in Chilas.

In Hunza’s Gojal region, flooding from a melting glacier in Gulmit damaged public and private property.

According to the local administration, the flood destroyed crops, agricultural land, five irrigation channels, three wooden bridges, hundreds of trees and other infrastructure.

Mr Faraq added that the death toll from recent flood-related disasters in GB has reached 15, with six others injured. Restoration work on the KKH in Murkhoon, which was damaged by river erosion, is underway, while several houses in Has­sanabad Nallah, Hunza, remain at risk due to increased water flow from the Shishper Glacier.

In Shigar district, several acres of land have been submerged.

Officials say climate change-induced disasters have severely impacted the people of GB, which has faced relentless flooding from cloudbursts, glacial lake outburst floods (Glofs) and intense monsoon rains since June.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2025