CHITRAL: The glacial lake outburst flood (Glof) and cloudburst followed by an abnormal surge in temperature have heaped misery on Chitral residents by ravaging infrastructure and suspending internet service.

The disasters have severed both physical and digital lifelines, snapping the main fiber-optic link to deny internet access and leaving thousands of stranded residents at the mercy of harsh elements without food, shelter or communication.

The scale of the destruction spans the vast geography of the district, stretching from Sheshi Koh Valley and Drosh town in Lower Chitral district all the way to Mastuj in Upper Chitral district.

A deadly combination of flash floods and roaring Glof torrents has completely closed the vital Chitral-Peshawar Highway and the Chitral-Shandur Road, disconnecting Upper Chitral from Lower Chitral and locking the valley out from the rest of the country.

Thousands exposed to severe conditions without food, shelter and internet access

The disaster killed Mukhtar Wali Khan of Broz and an unidentified resident whose body was recovered from the surging Chitral River waters by Rescue 1122.

The devastation hit a peak late Monday night when a monstrous cloudburst over Broz generated ferocious flood torrents through Gumbas Gol and Broz Gol.

The deluge instantly washed away connecting bridges and obliterated the fiber-optic infrastructure, effectively blinding the region from the digital world. Debris and boulders overwhelmed local businesses burying a petrol pump and sweeping away multiple parked vehicles.

In Lower Chitral’s Karimabad Valley, the situation is equally grim, where nearly a dozen bridges were destroyed, entirely segregating communities on opposite sides of the river banks. Downstream in Prayet Gol, high-level flooding carrying heavy sludge blocked the main flow of the Chitral River for several agonizing hours.

In Upper Chitral, swollen streams and mountain nullahs have run amok through a chain of villages, including Reshun, Zait, Kuragh, Charun, Booni, Awi, Parwak, Mastuj Khas and Parkusap.

At Parwak, massive landslides triggered by relentless rains blocked the Booni-Mastuj road, trapping over 150 vehicles and hundreds of passengers for 16 hours.

Stranded travelers lashed out at the district administration, criticizing the slow response and the use of basic tractors instead of heavy machinery to clear the mountain debris.

Near Kuragh, the situation turned even more desperate as the swelling river completely washed away the main road cutting through the mountain, halting even pedestrian movement between the two districts.

A ghostly silence has enveloped the valley in the wake of the disaster where local schools have observed a public holiday, commercial markets wear a deserted look and attendance across government offices has plummeted to a negligible minimum.

When contacted, deputy commissioner of Lower Chitral Mohammad Hashim Azeem confirmed the dispatch of initial relief teams to the area and said a damage assessment survey was under way, with Rescue 1122 and tehsil municipal administration providing relief to the disaster victims.

While the National Highway Authority attempts to clear roads and construct temporary bridge diversions at Broz Gol, humanitarian groups like the Disaster Assessment Response Team of Focus Humanitarian Pakistan and the Mohammad Talha Mahmood Foundation have arrived on the ground to provide emergency first response soon after the disaster in Broze.

The most common issue of all the affected villages is the acute shortage of safe drinking water as the pipelines have been washed away.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2026