PAKISTAN’S underprivileged are perennially left out in the cold. As mercury dives to single digits, the government’s refusal to treat the biting cold as a climate emergency is claiming lives.

In Chitral, at least nine members of a family were killed when an avalanche consumed their house. Intense snowfall and landslides have crippled routine life in KP, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir. Households grapple with unannounced power and gas cuts; commuters contend with blocked roads and highways. Power outages, suspended water supply, and extremely low gas pressure turned homes into dark freezers in Balochistan where temperatures were as low as minus 13°C.

This month, nearly 50 people have reportedly died of the cold in Karachi alone — a city that usually experiences mild winters witnessed temperatures below 7°C. This weather system is expected to bring more rain and snowfall to the country but only Punjab seems prepared for it.

Cold snaps often take an unsparing toll on the human body. Medical experts say that as the cold forces the heart to work overtime, heart attacks, strokes, and kidney complications become more common, particularly among people suffering from heart disease, poor immunity and diabetes. Heat loss in the body causes chilblains, frostbite and hypothermia — treatable conditions that turn lethal due to the lack of knowledge about them.

A warm hearth in winter can help. But the scores that languish on cold, hard footpaths wrapped in rags or plastic die uncounted.

Welfare-centric policies and mechanisms that ensure uninterrupted gas and electricity and road safety in extreme weather events are crucial. The state’s inability to expand free shelter and meal programmes, such as panahgahs, must be tackled with the adoption of international models involving pavement shelters and drop-in facilities. For immediate relief, parts of public spaces should serve as refuge.

The antidote to widespread indignity is compassion.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2026