For about 20 years, Asif Ali and his relatives have struggled to reclaim the flooded land on which once stood their homes and gardens. However, GLOFs pour water on their hopes after every one or two years by bringing down more boulders and debris from the glacier.
\”It\’s our misfortune or the end of the world for us,\” the schoolteacher says, as a flood buried newly grown plants and crops on the boulders-laden land once again on June 30 this year.
Brep in Upper Chitral with a population of about 1,200 households was known for its apple orchards and centuries-old walnut trees when GOLFs first rattled it in 2005 and washed away 56 houses. Subsequent floods in its two nullahs have washed away about 40pc of the village, 27 more houses along with the awe-inspiring walnut trees, rendering the remaining on either side of the streams vulnerable to nature\’s vagaries without any mitigation plan by the government.
Liaquat Ali from Brep said embankments constructed by an NGO at a cost of millions of rupees could not withstand GLOFs in Darkhot nullah and were washed away. He said repeated requests to the government and NGOs to help in dredging the flash flood nullah of Chhikan to protect the unaffected part of the village were not heeded to.
Attalighan Deh of Brep is the most affected locality where over 30 of the around 50 houses have been wiped out of existence. For the survivors of the village, an NGO built shelter houses in Khotanlasht desert where most of the displaced people live with many others already moved to different areas of Chitral. Some, like Asif Ali, however, still try to reclaim their lost land.
Mr Asif, a resident of Attalighan Deh, told ChitralToday that the displaced families were advised by the NGO not to come back to the flood-prone neighbourhood.
“How could a family having no sources of income survive in a small compound of two rooms in a desert without keeping cattle, chicken or growing any crop or vegetable? We are also not ready to leave the land of our forefathers,” he said.
Village Council Chairman Musa Nabi said there was no strategy for the rehabilitation of displaced families or to protect the area from floods. For instance, a school washed away in the 2005 flood was relocated from the pathway of GLOFs to another flood-prone area or the ‘red zone’ of the village. Last year, flash floods hit and damaged the school again. The government through the UNDP rehabilitated the school for Rs10.15 million but without any steps to protect it from further damages.
Similarly, three damaged water tanks and supply lines in the village have not been restored even after many years, he said, adding the residents were forced to drink muddy water from the flooding nullahs.
“During the flood season, people living in the village have their bags packed, ready to leave at a moment’s notice,” said Mubashir Sultan while talking about the looming threat of GLOFs and flash floods in the summer.
He criticised the aid model, saying it was out of touch with reality. According to him, the authorities instead of taking adaptation measures were content with distributing food and tents after every disaster, which was not a solution to the issue exacerbated by climate change.