- By: Muhammad Faisal
Chitral is suffering due to the climate change, recent floods have destroyed the local businesses and the wildlife habitats, and still the mainstream media didn’t report anything regarding the floods in Chitral neither any official did anything to safeguard the locals from the devastating floods.
The region of Chitral is situated in the northwestern part of Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. It is a remote and mountainous region.The district is known for its stunning natural beauty, with rugged mountains, lush valleys, and the Chitral River running through it, district Chitral is the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, covering an area of 14,850 km².. It is part of the largest Hindu Kush mountain range and the largest district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.Chitral attracts tourists with its picturesque landscapes, trekking opportunities, and cultural experiences.
The Kalash Valley, inhabited by the Kalash people and known for their unique culture, is a popular destination within Chitral. However, the region is beautiful but no proper structure is there for the people. And each and every year these devastating floods are menacing the lives of local Chitralis. As winter has arrived the people of Chitral witnessed its first snowfall but in upcoming summer we might see floods again.
Furthermore, according to the locals of Chitral, that there was a time when Chitral was a lush green valley now it is turned into a cold desert, the entire history of Chitral could be rewritten if the government and the local bodies don’t do anything regarding this issue.
Another young local argued that climate change is impacting the locals of the northern areas but it is really funny to see that non profit organisation are working in cities like Islamabad and other area where there is no such big issue related to climate change, these organisation should be working in the northern areas and educate the people and tell them how the climate change is directly proportional to the yearly floods in Chitral. They argued that no news organisation representatives are here in this region and nobody is representing us the way they should.
Moreover, due to the information crunch in the region many uneducated people of Chitral are misusing the environment and the people who are educated are forced by the yearly floods to leave the area and abandon their lives and land , this resulting into much more crucial scenarios. Another young Kalashu girl argued that when it comes to polo , when it comes to festival , government will do anything here because they get profit out of us , we don’t have big hotel’s here that we get profit from tourists, we just enjoy our culture and if the tourist come or not we will still do our cultural set up just because it’s our culture and we don’t need money to do anything just like that climate change issue , we are suffering from it , year after year our houses , our crops get flushed away and still we don’t get what we actually deserve.
However, by implementing a multi-faceted approach that involves education, policy , infrastructure, and community engagements, government and NGOs can significantly contribute to addressing the climate challenge in Chitral.Overall, these efforts can lead to a more sustainable, resilient, and prosperous Chitral region, setting an example for other areas facing similar climate challenges.
However, continuous monitoring, adaptation, and further action would be necessary to sustain these positive outcomes in the long term.