Pakistan’s mountains and glaciers are facing growing threats from mining, drilling, and climate change, warned Senator Sheri Rahman, Vice President of the Pakistan Peoples Party, on the occasion of International Mountain Day.
Speaking on Thursday, Rahman highlighted the environmental risks posed by unregulated human activities, including underground nuclear testing, which she said is hollowing rocks and contaminating groundwater. She also noted that excessive cutting of mountains is endangering forests and the habitats of rare wildlife.
Rahman emphasized that Pakistan is home to over 3,000 high-altitude lakes and 13,032 glaciers, the largest collection outside polar regions. These glaciers provide the majority of the country’s freshwater and are crucial to agriculture, as 90 percent of Pakistan’s farming water comes from glacial melt feeding the Indus River.
“Recent studies show a 16 percent decrease in glacial mass over the past few years,” she said, warning that accelerated melting is pushing Pakistan into a dangerous cycle of drought and severe floods. Rahman also noted a rising threat of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where communities are increasingly vulnerable.
Highlighting local resilience, she recalled a case last year where a shepherd’s timely warning prevented a GLOF disaster, underscoring the importance of early warning systems. She urged the government to invest in these systems, which the United Nations recognizes as a basic human right.
“Destruction of our mountains will have long-term economic consequences,” Rahman said. “We must take strict action against those responsible for indiscriminate mountain cutting.”
