DND Report
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is vulnerable to many natural and man-made hazards, including heavy encroachments on riversides, water tributaries, deforestation, and unplanned, illegal constructions near or over glacier routes.
During the last 10 years KP faced several major water related disasters including massive floods/landslides in 2010 & 2022 but the provincial administration had learned nothing from these events and had neither enhanced its capacity to deal with floods nor had taken actions against encroachments and illegal constructions near or at water channels such as rivers, nullahs and water tributaries, resulting in huge numbers of displaced persons like the Swat crisis.
In 2015, KP suffered further disasters with glacial lake outburst and flash floods in Chitral District, which was caused due to heavy deforestation, and civil society organisations had been complaining that heavy deforestation had been done by the timber mafia that had strong political backing of the PTI leadership. The same situation was also reported in Mansehra Division, where timber mafia had been cutting even 100-year-old huge trees with the active support of the political cadre of the province.
These calamities have had a severe impact on the lives, livelihoods, crops, and livestock of poor people, creating great hardship for the affected communities while timber mafia and hoteliers who encroach on water channels are minting money from these activities. Schools, health facilities, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure have also been damaged or destroyed around the Swat River almost every year because both sides of the river have been encroached by the hoteliers, resulting narrow passageway of the river that results in extreme flow in low-lying areas.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and other provincial departments are responsible for maintaining the situation and taking appropriate measures before monsoon onslaught, but nothing has been done even this year, resulting in cases of flushing out of homes and sweeping away people by heavy floods. It is pertinent to mention that the KP government has received heavy grants and loans from international partners for the sustainable livelihood of poor people, environmental disaster management, and to stop deforestation, but these grants and loans during the last 10 years have no proper documentation. The PDMA officially takes lead responsibility to address environmental challenges presented by disasters and climate change, and reduce risks and vulnerabilities from all types of natural hazards. However, it looks uncommitted to its terms of reference and has failed to build a strategy to counter the annual rainfall disaster cycle.
Moreover, the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities of the PDMA have not released an annual report per the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disaster Management Road Map, which has not been revised and updated since 2019. This roadmap was the core document to develop a strategic plan for the DRR needs with a focus on the Monsoon Contingency Plan of the Province.
It is globally proven that effective and efficient Disaster Management is of vital importance to disaster-prone areas such as KP. Climate change and shifts in monsoon patterns are posing new challenges for KP, causing damage in areas not previously affected. The indications are that extreme events will occur with greater frequency and intensity in the future, and we must be prepared for all eventualities. The development and implementation of effective strategies to counter the impacts of disasters and climate change is imperative but this province has not revised and updated its DRR map for the last six years that shows incompetency, laid back behavior and administrative collapse of the province under the PTI that is running the province for the last 12 years.
Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) sector working in the fields of climate change and disaster management claim Risk Reduction Preparedness is nowhere seen in KP, and there are no adequate disaster response mechanisms in place, and climate change adaptation policy is not a priority for the Planning and Development of the province. The NGO sector believes that the comprehensive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disaster Road Map (2014-2019) must be revised, reviewed, and implemented in full if the province is really interested in reducing the risks posed by disasters and the massive human and economic costs.
Meanwhile, the Relief Rehabilitation and Settlement Department (RR&SD), which is mandated to formulate Policies, Strategies, and Guidelines for Relief, Rehabilitation, and Emergency activities in the Province, is non-operational because having no experts in the staff who can plan something tangible and government officials having no technical knowledge are posted there.
The Situation at Ground:
Several video clips are spreading on social media, indicating that families were trapped in water and were swept away without getting any help. Such videos also appeared on social media last year, and the majority of them were documented in and around the Swat River and its tributaries. The Swat River floods in Khwazakhela, Bahrain, and Madyan annually due to a combination of natural factors such as heavy monsoon rains and glacial meltwater from the Hindu Kush mountains, but these factors are exacerbated by man-made deforestation and human encroachment on floodplains.
The tragic drowning of several people in the River Swat is NOT the result of a random “natural disaster”.
70 people were trapped in 7 different locations. 6 dead bodies have been recovered. 52 people have been rescued. So far.
We need to UNDERSTAND that this and other disasters… pic.twitter.com/PVh9GpQrql— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) June 27, 2025
Deforestation and Timber Mafia under PTI rule
Loss of forest cover reduces the land’s ability to absorb and regulate water flow, leading to increased runoff into the river.
One of the most pressing threats to Swat’s environment is the rampant deforestation, largely driven by the timber mafia. Forests of Upper Swat, particularly those populated with pines and deodar trees, have been severely depleted by the timber mafia’s unchecked activities and have been ruthlessly axed without any check from the provincial government, which, according to locals, is part of causing irreparable damage to the green cover of Upper Swat. The roots of this crisis can be traced back to an irrational decision to allow private forest owners to cut down trees under the woodlot law. While this policy was initially intended to manage forest resources, it inadvertently opened the floodgates for illegal logging in both private and state-owned forests. The timber mafia capitalized on this, exacerbating the destruction. The once-thriving forests, integral to Swat, Dir, Shangla, Kohistan, Chitral, Mansehra, and Abbottabad’s ecological balance, are now under heightened threats. With an increase in coldness after snowfall, the transportation of timbers increased further in the province, especially Swat, Dir, Chitral, Shangla, of Malakand as well as Hazara divisions, to address increasing demands of wood by hotels and furniture makers. While cutting sleepers of native pines and indigenous species, mostly transported from Bahrain, Khwazakhela, Madayn, Matta, Mahudhand, Gabin Jabba, Malam Jabba, Kabal, Oshu, and Kalam.
The available statistics revealed that in Upper and Lower Swat, forests cover an area of 216,005 acres, with 148,729 acres declared protected forests and 67,275 acres declared communal forests. The experts claimed that 30% to 40% of trees in various regions of Swat have already been cut down, and those involved in logging if not stop will cut down over 70% of trees in the district.
The National Forest Policy 2015 has revealed that Pakistan’s total forest-covered area was only five percent, and the country was losing about 27,000 hectares of forests per year, mainly occurring in private and community-owned natural forests.
Background interviews with retired Forest Officers by the DND News Agency indicate that 50 percent of forests were being used as cheaper firewood in KP, 35 percent for furniture, and 15 percent of trees were being lost due to urbanization and community-driven demands. They were of the view that deforestation was a national challenge and there was a need to impose a ‘Green Emergency’ to protect the green heritage of KP. They suggested an agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan to control the smuggling of timber.
A retired Forest Officer claimed that thousands of trees planted under the PTI’s so-called billions tree afforestation project were prematurely cut in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which was a clear violation of the agreement signed between KP forest department and farmers and improper planning and wrong selection, dozens of billion trees project’s plantation sites in northern KP were swept away by the gushing flood water in 2022. He further claimed that “Forest Force” had been raised with powers like the police to protect forest resources and conduct operations against timber mafia, but this Force had been a part and parcel of deforestation in the province. He added that the Forest Force is (was) equipped with the latest weaponry, vehicles, and a communication system with the power to shoot offenders and timber mafia in self-defense and it is impossible that timber mafia could shave the lands without the active support of this Forest Force, comprising of mostly PTI’s workers. He said that the Forest Officers can arrest, detain or take an accused into custody besides checking any vehicle, boat, railway wagon, or pack animal and seize the smuggled timber and DFOs/RFOs can enter any depot, wood/saw cutting unit, building, or any premises to search and seize timber and arrest offenders besides holding investigation, inquiry and arrest any offender without any warrant from the magistrate. The Forest Force’s jurisdiction has been extended to merged areas where check-posts have been established on national and regional highways and roads to curb timber smuggling. “How is it possible with such huge powers and resources, Forest Force has failed to stop deforestation in the province?, asked the retired forest Officer.
Human Encroachment:
Construction and other activities in floodplains narrow the river’s channel and reduce its capacity to handle high flows, leading to more severe flooding.
Unchecked illegal construction of hotels, resorts, and restaurants on the river beds in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has intensified the flash floods in the last 10 years. Last year, starting from Mataltan and Kalam valleys, the flood in the river Swat had destroyed about 30 illegally constructed hotels and damaged 50 others, breaking 30 30-year record with a 243 percent excess in the Malakand division. The illegal construction of hotels in the River Swat had not only obstructed the flow of flood water but also turned into flash floods, damaging properties in the main Bahrain bazaar of the colonial era. The data shared by the Office of Commissioner Malakand showed that about 30 hotels at Kalam, Bahrain, Madain, Landaki, and Fizagat, mostly built along the Swat River swept away, and another 50 were damaged, being very close to glaciers. Around 700 hotels, motels, inns, and restaurants were completely inundated at Kalam, Bahrain, Kabal, Charbagh, Manglawar, Khwazakhela, Matta, Madain Mingora bypass road because they were built in or near water channels, nullahs, and inside river banks. The large-scale encroachment and illegal construction around the banks of the River Swat and other watercourses contributed to massive floods almost every year in the Swat Valley.
The situation is worrisome and raises questions as to why the concerned departments kept mum when this trend of illegal construction was flourishing. Illegal construction of hotels and buildings near the banks of the River Swat, especially at Kalam, Bahrain Bazaar, and Madain Bazaar, has marred the natural beauty of the tourist areas, besides affecting trout fish production.
Since Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf has been in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for 12 years, this is a failure on the part of the provincial government, not only resulting in loss of human lives and property but also colossal damage to habitat, environment, and livestock, inflicting loss of billions of rupees.
A former senior Civil Services Officer, talking to DND News Agency with the condition of anonymity, said deforestation and encroachments are two fruits being provided by the PTI government in KP, and this government is so callous that either it is worried about the future of the province or has no respect for nature. He thought that only Allah (God) could ask them what they (PTI) had done to the province and its natural beauty.
