National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP) March 2010 - NDMA

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d. Tropical Cyclones. Cyclones have become frequent globally but most of them do not
seriously impact Pakistan‟s coast. However, the cyclone of 1999 had a serious impact
on districts of Badin and Thatta as 168 lives were lost, 11,000 cattles perished, 73
settlements completely wiped out, 642 boats damaged and about 0.6 million people
severely affected because of this cyclone. “Yemyn” in 2007 had a much wider impact
on 26 districts of Balochistan and Sindh and affected 2.5 million and caused the loss of
nearly 400 lives 7 . The following districts are vulnerable to tropical cyclone:-
District Province
(1) Gawader, Ketch, Lasbella and Washuk Balochistan
(2) Badin, Karachi, and Thatta Sindh
e. Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). There are about 5,218 glaciers in Pakistan
with a total of 2,420 lakes, out of which 52 are potentially dangerous and can result in
GLOFs, seriously damaging life, property and livelihoods. Although the history of
GLOFs is not documented, records indicate that GLOFs occurred in Ghizer Valley in
the Ishkoman region in 1960 and in the Hunza region in 1992-93. Karakoram Range
generally has higher elevation and is considered as out of the impact of climate change
yet it is alarming that five GLOFs event occurred in less than one year (2007-2008) in
parts of Gojal Tehsil in Hunza River Basin which posed a great risk to the downstream
communities 8 . Similarly, the Shingo Basin, Astor areas south of Gilgit and the Jhelum
valley are also vulnerable to this disaster. Astore, Gilgit and Ghanche Districts are
vulnerable to GLOFs.
f. Avalanches. Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir region experience avalanches on seasonal
basis regularly. Local communities surrounding the avalanche area are vulnerable to
this disaster. Avalanches are a kind of local natural disaster and their impact is
localized to the communities living nearby or in the area where avalanches happen on
a regular basis. Therefore, the impact of avalanches is minimal. Following districts are
vulnerable to avalanches:-
District Province
(1) Chitral NWFP
(2) Astore, Gilgit, Ghanche, Ghizer and Skardu Gilgit-Baltistan
g. Landslides. Landslides are basically the rapid mass movements of land. Landslides
are gravity-driven and facilitated by slope of the rock mass, water content and material
of the rock mass. Landslides can be triggered by an earthquake, rainstorm, wind or
anthropogenic activities e.g. blasting. Although landslides are ubiquitous in any
mountain range, the Himalayas being the youngest mountain chain with fastest rising
7 Pakistan Meteorological Department, Government of Pakistan
8 Community Based Assessment of Impacts of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Hazards (GLOFs), UNDP, EU