CHITRAL: As the summer season approaches bringing with it the perennial threat of catastrophic flooding, residents and experts across the Chitral valley are urging the urgent construction of a continuous chain of bulwarks to protect vulnerable settlements from the rampaging Chitral River.

Over the last two decades, the 400km span from Broghil Valley in the north to Arandu on the Pak-Afghan Border in the south has seen a dramatic spike in flood intensity.

Driven by global warming and rapid glacial melt, the river has systematically eroded low-lying villages, swallowing nearly one-third of the region’s already scarce cultivable land in areas like Ayun.

The scale of destruction is visible across the district. In the Yarkhun Valley, villages such as Dubarger, Pawer and Kargin have been decimated. Similarly, Reshun and Green Lasht in the Biyar Region, and Shoghor in the Lot Koh Valley, remained high-risk zones.

Residents, experts urge urgent construction of bulwarks along river

In Lower Chitral, the threat looms large over Ayun, Khairabad, Drosh,Shoghor, Upper Broze and Naghar, where families face threat of displacement every summer.

Former MPA Syed Sardar Hussain Shah (2013–2018) expressed frustration over the government’s lack of long-term planning and said that during his tenure a comprehensive plan for mass bulwarks was presented on the assembly floor, only to be “consigned to cold storage” by subsequent administrations.

He said that the cultivable land accounts for barely 4 percent of Chitral’s total area and to allow this precious resource to erode into the river is a tragedy while no serious effort has been made to fetter these furious tides that render dozens of families homeless every year.

He regretted that some of the lost villages of Ayun, Green Lasht, Kargin and Junali Koch could have been saved by protection walls.

Mr. Shah cited the examples of the few villages in Upper Chitral which were secured from the devastating floods once and for all by construction of bulwarks in large scale by Aga Khan Foundation, which included Kargin, Raghen Reshun and Buzund in Upper Chitral and Kalash Valley Rumbur.

Ecologists warn that the situation is set to worsen. Hamid Mir, a Chitral-based ecologist associated with an international organisation, highlighted that the region is home to over 500 glaciers, many of which are melting at an “incredible” rate due to climate change.

“We are anticipating a steep increase in the frequency of high floods,” Mir warned. “With many glaciers declared sensitive to outbursts, the river level will continue to reach dangerous peaks, making permanent protective structures the only practicable solution for the valley’s survival.”

Without immediate intervention, residents fear that the “berserk” floods in the river will eventually wipe several historic villages off the map entirely.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026