The Hunza River Basin is highly glaciated and therefore at great risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) due to Climate Change. The severity of devastation from GLOFs increases as the elevation and volume of the glacial lakes increases, and if the settlements and infrastructure downstream are close in proximity. Many potential lakes have the capacity to demolish infrastructure including roads and highways. In the past fifty years, several GLOF events in the area have been reported, especially in the eastern part of the CPEC region. The surge of Khurdopin Glacier caused devastation by creating the Khurdopin glacial lake in 2017 in the Shimshal Valley of the Hunza River basin. Now, panic once again spreads in the region as the increasing water discharge from the Shisper glacial lake threatens the lives of people living downstream near Hasanabad.
What Happened: The expansion of the nearby Muchuhur glacier in May 2018 had blocked the water flow, creating a lake in Shisper glacier. The stream from the two glaciers now falls into the Hunza river, and as temperatures increase, threatens to expand into a glacial lake that might spill into the Hassanabad residential region. What Next : The possible glacial lake outburst has the potential to submerge a portion of Karakoram Highway, a bridge, over 100 houses in Hasanabad village, two powerhouses, a Frontier Works Organisation camp office and hundreds of kanals of fertile land. It may also submerge drinking water channels of central Hunza and block the flow of the Hunza river. Water discharge from Shisper glacier had started on Saturday, and by Monday water discharge had reached 2,300 cusecs. Multiple warnings were issued.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a glacial lake outburst flood alert in Hunza this week.#hunza #Flood #GilgitBaltistanhttps://t.co/2HVvvatcJq
— Rapid News (@DailyRapidNews) April 27, 2021