Kondal Lake Early Warning System Restored in Upper Dir Amid GLOF Risk
UPPER DIR, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Authorities have restored and activated an early warning system at Kondal Lake in Upper Dir’s Kumrat Valley amid renewed concerns over the potential risk of a glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF, as climate-related threats increase across Pakistan’s mountainous north.
The Upper Dir district administration installed new batteries, solar panels and alarm equipment after components of the previous warning system were reportedly stolen, leaving it inactive. Authorities say the monitoring system is now fully operational.
The system was initially installed after unusual activity was reported at the remote glacial lake last year.
A tourist reported observing muddy water, bubbles spreading across the lake’s surface and unexplained sounds in the area. Those observations prompted experts from national and provincial disaster-management authorities to inspect Kondal Lake twice, while the then deputy commissioner conducted an aerial survey by helicopter.
The reported sounds and surface activity have not been scientifically established as evidence that a GLOF is imminent.
Kondal Lake Sits 10,500 Feet Above Sea Level
Kondal Lake is situated approximately 10,500 feet above sea level in the mountainous Kumrat Valley.
The site consists of two interconnected glacial lakes — a smaller upper lake and a larger lake below — covering an estimated eight to 10 acres and receiving water from surrounding glaciers.
The remote lake is also a destination for adventurous tourists, who generally face a strenuous four-to-five-hour mountain trek to reach it.
Local residents have long reported unusual sounds around the lake. One tourist interviewed by The Express Tribune said he heard loud noises at intervals of roughly 30 to 45 minutes, speculating they might be linked to internal glacier movement. Experts, however, would need to establish their origin scientifically.
2024 Floods Highlight Kumrat’s Vulnerability
Concern over Kondal Lake comes after destructive flooding elsewhere in Kumrat Valley.
In July 2024, nearby Zeki Jhat and Shazur lakes burst following pressure associated with falling glacier masses, according to the report. The resulting flooding damaged houses, agricultural land, hotels, roads, commercial areas, water mills, water-supply infrastructure and a hydropower facility.
Some infrastructure damaged during that disaster has yet to be fully rehabilitated.
The previous destruction has heightened concern about the potential consequences of another glacial lake outburst in the valley.
Experts Warn of Growing Climate Risk
Professor Dr Ehsan Danish of the Environmental Sciences Department at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, warned that Upper Dir, Swat and Chitral are becoming increasingly vulnerable to flash floods and GLOF events amid unusual and unseasonal weather patterns.
He said major floods in 2010, 2022 and 2024 demonstrated the region’s vulnerability and called for residential and commercial encroachments to be removed from natural waterways and other high-risk routes.
Local explorers have identified at least 27 small and large glacial lakes across the wider Upper Dir region, according to The Express Tribune report.
The concerns are consistent with broader warnings for northern Pakistan. In July, the Pakistan Meteorological Department warned that warmer-than-normal conditions combined with rainfall could accelerate snow and ice melt, expand existing glacial lakes and potentially destabilise natural ice or moraine dams in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Pakistan Expanding GLOF Warning Network
Pakistan is also expanding its wider climate-disaster monitoring infrastructure.
The government is installing 286 early warning systems across 24 vulnerable valleys in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the $37 million GLOF-II project. Of those valleys, 18 are in Gilgit-Baltistan and six in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
At Kondal Lake, restoration of the warning equipment provides authorities with a mechanism for monitoring potential changes and issuing advance alerts if conditions indicate an emergency.
The Relief Department and Provincial Disaster Management Authority have also issued alerts following a review of possible GLOF threats.
The restoration does not mean that a glacial lake outburst is certain or imminent. Rather, it forms part of precautionary disaster preparedness in a mountainous region increasingly exposed to glacier-related hazards and extreme weather.
