Latest news with #Gilgit-Baltistan
Arab News
26-07-2025
- Climate
- Arab News
Glacial floods alert issued for northwest Pakistan with more heavy rain forecast
PESHAWAR: Pakistan on Saturday warned of glacial flooding in the northwest with more rain forecast for the area in the coming week. Downpours are heavier in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province than the same period last year, prompting weather adviseries and alerts for flooding from glacial lake outbursts, said Anwar Shahzad, a spokesperson for the local disaster management authority. A letter from the authority sent out mid-July said 'persistent high temperatures may accelerate snow and glacier melt and subsequent weather events' in vulnerable parts of the region. Dr. Abdul Samad, from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Department, said rescue teams evacuated more than 500 holidaymakers from Naran after a cloudburst overnight Friday caused a road closure. Authorities deployed heavy machinery to remove debris and restore access. In the neighboring Gilgit-Baltistan region, the government said it had distributed hundreds of tents, thousands of food packets, and medicine to flood-affected communities. Spokesperson Faizullah Firaq said Saturday there was 'severe destruction' in some areas and damage to houses, infrastructure, crops, and businesses. Search operations were underway to find missing people on the Babusar Highway, where flooding struck nine villages. Helicopters rescued tourists stuck in the popular spot of Fairy Meadows, he added. Pakistan has received above-normal rainfall this monsoon season, raising concerns of a repeat of the devastating 2022 floods that submerged a third of the country and killed 1,737 people. Some 260 have died across Pakistan so far this season, which runs through to mid-September. Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, but one of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
Al Arabiya
26-07-2025
- Climate
- Al Arabiya
Glacial floods alert issued for northwest Pakistan with more heavy rain forecast
Pakistan on Saturday warned of glacial flooding in the northwest with more rain forecast for the area in the coming week. Downpours are heavier in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province than the same period last year prompting weather advisories and alerts for flooding from glacial lake outbursts said Anwar Shahzad a spokesperson for the local disaster management authority. A letter from the authority sent out mid-July said persistent high temperatures may accelerate snow and glacier melt and subsequent weather events in vulnerable parts of the region. Dr. Abdul Samad from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Department said rescue teams evacuated more than 500 holidaymakers from Naran after a cloudburst overnight Friday caused a road closure. Authorities deployed heavy machinery to remove debris and restore access. In the neighboring Gilgit-Baltistan region the government said it had distributed hundreds of tents thousands of food packets and medicine to flood-affected communities. Spokesperson Faizullah Firaq said Saturday there was severe destruction in some areas and damage to houses infrastructure crops and businesses. Search operations were underway to find missing people on the Babusar Highway where flooding struck nine villages. Helicopters rescued tourists stuck in the popular spot of Fairy Meadows he added. Pakistan has received above-average rainfall this monsoon season raising concerns of a repeat of the devastating 2022 floods that submerged a third of the country and killed 1,737 people. Some 260 have died across Pakistan so far this season which runs through to mid-September. Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change but one of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
Deccan Herald
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Deccan Herald
June 22, 2025: Best photos from around the world
Iraqi people gather during a rally to show solidarity with Iran, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in the Shi'ite district of Kadhimiya, Baghdad, Iraq, June 21, 2025. Credit: Reuters Photo Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil and his wife Dr. Noor Abdalla react at Newark airport, a day after being released from immigration custody, in Newark, New Jersey, U.S., June 21, 2025. Players (Gilgit-Baltistan in Blue and Chitral Laspur in Red) fight for the ball during the annual Shandur Polo Festival, at Shandur Pass, at an estimated altitude of around 3700 meters, in Chitral, Pakistan June 20, 2025. Credit: Reuters Photo Urawa Red Diamonds fans inside the stadium before their match against Inter Milan, U.S., June 21, 2025. Credit: Reuters Photo
Express Tribune
18-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
PSDP spending fails to go beyond 40%
Listen to article The coalition government has so far spent hardly Rs424 billion or less than 40% of the annual downward revised development budget, impacting construction work and cash flows of hundreds of projects, including schemes of the provinces and merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The only exceptions to lower spending were the projects related to parliamentarians, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), showed the official documents. The official data of the Planning Commission showed that from July through the middle of April (nine and half months), the development expenditures amounted to Rs424 billion or 39% of the annual budget. The downward revised Public Sector Development Programme is worth Rs1.1 trillion, which is spread over 1,071 projects. Under the Finance Ministry's release strategy, 60% of the annual budget can be spent during the first nine months of this fiscal year. But the spending remained below this threshold by at least Rs260 billion. This is despite the fact that the Planning Commission had authorized Rs890 billion spending during this period but the actual expenditures were far lower than the budget spending strategy and the authorized spending. When contacted, the Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that compared to the last year, the spending during the nine-month period was still higher by Rs102 billion. He said that the monthly spending in March this year was also higher by Rs27 billion. However, the details showed that despite being higher than last year's spending; the overall situation was not good, which impacted many projects. The official documents showed that the already approved Rs1.1 trillion budget is not adequately spent on the development schemes. According to these documents, the government had allocated Rs276.5 billion for projects in provinces, special areas and merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But the actual spending till April 15th remained at Rs98.5 billion or 36% of the annual allocation. Within this spending, an amount of Rs56.6 billion was spent on AJK and GB projects, which was equal to 76% of the annual budget and higher than the ceiling. But on the merged districts of KP only Rs15.8 billion or 23% of its Rs70 billion allocation was spent. These merged districts are adversely affected by the terror attacks and are under-developed but yet it could not get the attention of the Prime Minister. For the provincial projects, Rs132 billion have been allocated but the spending remains at just Rs26 billion or 20% of the annual allocation. The Planning Ministry did not respond to a question about the annual allocations for Balochistan projects and the actual spending during the first nine and half months of this fiscal year. But details showed that there were 200 federally-funded projects going on in Balochistan having a total cost of Rs1.4 trillion. These projects need little over Rs1 trillion more for completion and the government has already allocated Rs130 billion for this fiscal year. An official of the Planning Commission said that the finance ministry was not releasing the funds despite authorization due to its International Monetary Fund related commitments. But such constraints did not impact spending on the parliamentarians' small schemes. As against the annual allocation of Rs50 billion, Rs35 billion or 69% of the annual budget has already been spent on the parliamentarians' schemes in this fiscal year. The Water Resource Ministry's annual budget was Rs170 billion and so far Rs71 billion or 42% of the annual allocation is spent. The Water Resources Ministry has already requested additional Rs60 billion cover for spending the foreign loans on its schemes. But the Planning Commission has so far not been able to provide the cover. The National Highway Authority's annual budget is Rs161 billion but spending remains at only Rs54 billion or little over one-third of the annual allocation. The Balochistan's project that will get petroleum levy funding is also under the purview of the NHA. The Power Davison's annual budget is Rs95 billion but the spending is just Rs51 billion or little over half of the annual allocation.
