GILGIT: The local pharmaceutical industry on Tuesday sent medicines to flood-hit Gilgit-Baltistan as thousands of residents remained without road access and shelter in the aftermath of floods that ravaged the mountainous region over the past weeks.

For more than five days, a majority of areas in the Ghizer district had been cut off after a glacial flood that created an artificial lake in the area, inundating a large portion of the Karakoram

Highway. District Nagar’s last village Hisper has been cut off for a month.

Locals feared the lack of access and destruction of water channels would lead to a food crisis in their areas and urged the government to restore access as well as power.

Meanwhile, they started restoring the connecting road, blocked at several locations, on their own. The K2 Road, which connects remote villages in Shigar and the K2 basecamp, was also blocked.

Residents fear water unavailability may cause food crisis; PM may visit flood-hit areas today

A local, Muhammad Alam, told Dawn that flood-affected people in the Mashabrum sub-division of Ghanche district in Baltistan were currently living under difficult circumstances. “Above 60 households…have taken shelter in tents…and are waiting for the government’s assistance.”

Unfortunately, locals said, no concrete steps have been taken by the government.

Meanwhile, the GB government said the survivors, especially the children, the women and the elderly, were suffering from mental and psychological problems.

Last week, spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said 39 people, including tourists, had been killed in floods since July. He added that these disasters have caused damage to the tune of Rs30 billion.

“At least two dozen people have been injured so far; 35 small and large bridges have been washed away; a dozen mosques and ‘Jamaat Khanas’ have been damaged, and more than half a dozen buildings of educational institutions have been damaged,” he said. About 350 houses were destroyed and at least 600 houses had sustained partial damage, according to the spokesperson.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was scheduled to visit GB on Wednesday, and arrangements in this regard had been finalised by the regional administration. Sources said the prime minister would visit Ghizer’s flood-affected areas to announce rehabilitation projects.

Separately, the medicine stocks were sent to the flood-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, where outbreaks of water-borne and vector-borne diseases had left hundreds of people sick.

The cargo included antibiotics, anti-malarials, anti-diarrhoeals, antipyretics, analgesics, intravenous fluids, oral rehydration salts, antifungals, antiseptics, and respiratory medicines, alongside diagnostic kits, surgical items, and personal protective equipment.

Imran Ayub in Karachi also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2025