PM awards Ghizer shepherds Rs2.5m each for glacier flood rescue

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday met three shepherds from Gilgit-Baltistan’s Ghizer district who helped save around 300 lives by alerting villagers to a potential glacial outburst.

Wasiyat Khan, Ansar and Mohammad Khan were grazing goats in the mountains when they spotted signs of a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF).

They immediately phoned their village, prompting the timely evacuation of residents from three settlements and averting a tragedy.

Had they not alerted the villagers, the glacier flood would have swept them away as the millions of dollars’ worth of early warning systems installed in Gilgit-Baltistan’s climate-vulnerable valleys under the GLOF-II project had failed to ring alarm bells.

The prime minister praised their courage, calling them “heroes of 240 million Pakistanis,” and announced a cash reward of Rs2.5 million each.

Earlier on Friday, Gilgit Police awarded Wasiyat Khan a cash prize of Rs10,000 and a certificate of appreciation for his timely action in saving the villagers.

The PM also presented them with commendation certificates and said he would soon visit Gilgit-Baltistan, where the affected area would be developed into a model village.

“You have proved the spirit of service by saving lives,” Shehbaz told them. “People like you are messiahs for the entire nation.”

A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) occurs when water suddenly escapes from a glacial lake, leading to severe flooding that can block or overwhelm rivers.

Pakistan is home to more than 13,032 glaciers, the largest reserve outside the polar regions.

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Experts warn that nearly 10,000 glaciers in Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan are rapidly melting due to rising temperatures caused by climate change.