Pakistan climber cleanses K2 as shrine to fallen father

This picture taken on July 15, 2023, shows Sajid Ali Sadpara holding his climbing gear at K2 Basecamp, world’s second tallest mountain in the Karakoram range of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. (AFP/File)
Short Url
Updated 10 August 2023
Follow

Pakistan climber cleanses K2 as shrine to fallen father

  • Sajid Sadpara and his team have picked some 200 kilograms of litter from K2
  • Move is tribute to deceased father Ali Sadpara who died during 2021 expedition

K2 BASECAMP, Pakistan: Gazing up from K2 Basecamp, Sajid Ali Sadpara sees Earth's second-highest mountain, his father's final resting place, and a blight of litter on the furthest reaches of the natural world.
Sajid dons a down coverall stitched with Pakistan's green flag to scale the 8,611-metre (28,251-foot) spur of rock, clearing an icebound grotesquerie of spent oxygen canisters, mangled tents and snarled rope discarded over decades by climbers questing for the summit.
Over a week some 200 kilograms (400 pounds) of litter is hacked from the pinnacle's frozen grip by his five-strong team and ferried precariously back down, he says, a rare act of charity in one of Earth's most unforgiving environments.




This picture taken on July 5, 2023, shows a mural of Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara, center, in the town of Skardu, Gilgit–Baltistan in Pakistan. (AFP/File)

It is a high-altitude tribute to Sajid's father, legendary climber Ali Sadpara, honouring the place where they bonded in nature and where his body remains after a 2021 father-son expedition fell foul of the "savage mountain".
"I'm doing it from my heart," Sajid told an AFP team at K2 Basecamp, where 5,150 metres of elevation labours breathing and avalanches tremor off an amphitheatre of surrounding slopes.
"This is our mountain," the 25-year-old said, sizing up the task above. "We are the custodians."

K2 was forged when India collided with Asia 50 million years ago, sprouting the Karakoram range of mountains across Pakistan's present-day northeastern Gilgit-Baltistan region.
It was named by British surveyors in 1856 -- denoting the second peak in the Karakoram range. Over time nearby mountains with alphanumeric designations became better known by names used by locals.
But sequestered up a glacial cul-de-sac on the Chinese border -- days from the faintest suggestion of human settlement -- K2 kept its foreboding moniker, stoking a reputation as a more wild, untamable, and technically demanding ascent than Nepal's Everest, which stands 238 meters higher.
First conquered by Italians in 1954, its winter winds scourge up to 200 kilometers per hour and temperatures plunge to minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 76 Fahrenheit).
But it also ignites primal passions with its archetypical triangular silhouette -- the shape of a peak a child might draw.
After two days on paths slit through valleys and four more across the Baltoro Glacier -- a 63-kilometer hulk frozen in a permanent storm swell and seamed with crevasses -- K2's first glimpse ripples frisson through hikers.
It stands like an altar at the end of a colossal aisle. Sundown deepens its rocky reliefs and burnishes snowy slopes to rose gold. Pilgrim paragliders come to whirl in its shadow.
One renowned wilderness photographer labeled this vista "the throne room of the mountain gods".
"We love it more than life itself because there's no place of such beauty on Earth," said Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) warden Muhammad Ishaq.
Against this sublime backdrop, Ali Sadpara stood out among a majority white, Western mountaineering elite as a domestic hero who rose from humble roots to scale eight of the world's 14 "super peaks" above 8,000 meters.
"Pakistan's name was raised high because of Ali," said 48-year-old Abbas Sadpara, an unrelated veteran mountaineer who guided the AFP team to K2.
Two years ago Sajid was attempting a perilous winter ascent of K2 with his father and two foreigners when illness forced him back.
The three men who carried on were later discovered dead below the "bottleneck" -- an overhang that looks like a frozen tidal wave on the final stretch before the summit.
Sajid recovered his father's body and performed Islamic rites at an improvised grave near Camp Four -- the last stop off before the top.
He marked the spot with GPS coordinates before the mountain enveloped the remains at a height of more than 23 Eiffel Towers.




This picture taken on July 16, 2023, shows a man collecting litter from K2 at Basecamp, world’s second tallest mountain in the Karakoram range of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. (AFP/File)

Sajid bears that loss with soft-spoken grace.
His voice, unbruised with emotion, is hard to make out in blaring Islamabad restaurants or the resort town of Skardu where a mural of his father looks on as expeditions jump off in growling jeeps.
But in the nearby village of Choghoghrong -- an oasis of golden cropland blotched with lavender bushes -- it resonates as he recounts the uncommon appreciation of the natural world his father handed down while they worked the land between summit pushes.
"This simple life and this natural life we spent here," Sajid said. "This whole world was my village."
"I am most connected with nature in this village," he said.
But K2 exerts a gravitational pull: a place of extreme risk but also the promise of absolute zen in the curious, adrenaline-addled climber's psyche.
"We want to be on mountains just for mental peace," Sajid said. "If we see any rubbish the feeling is totally different."
Abbas Sadpara said "K2 is no longer as beautiful as it once used to be. We have destroyed its beauty with our own hands."
But Sajid has climbed half the 8,000-metre peaks without supplemental oxygen, a daredevil undertaking, and holds no ill will towards those who jettison gear on the slopes.
"After a summit, you are totally exhausted," he said. "The main thing is survival."
But there is a saying in Islam he is fond of recalling: "Cleanliness is half of faith."
"Climbing to the top is a different thing," he explains. "Cleaning is something that you feel personally from the heart."


In 2019, plastic waste was discovered 11 kilometers below the sea in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth.
With commercialized mountain tourism conveying growing numbers of tourists to the summit, Everest is also growing notorious for vast blemishes of trash.
K2 witnessed a record of some 150 summits last season prompting concern the same ironic dynamic -- of climbers leaving trails of waste while pursuing the world's most untouched vistas -- has crept into play in Pakistan.
"There's two mountains that the trash has been a problem and that's K2 and Everest," said Norwegian climber Kristin Harila, 37, whose summit of the Pakistan peak last month sealed a record-quick ascent of all 8,000-metre mountains in three months and a day.
"Commercial companies, they take in more equipment," explained CKNP ecologist Yasir Abbas, who oversaw a campaign pulling 1,600 kg of refuse off the mountain in 2022. "If more people go to climb there will be more waste."
"What goes up must come down," he says. "The people who are cleaning K2 are risking their life for the environment."
But the clean-up mission goes beyond the environmental, spilling into the code of fellowship climbers abide by at altitude -- beyond the earthbound crutches of rescue services and emergency rooms.
Cast-away ropes can mislead teams with minds clouded by altitude sickness towards oblivion. Abandoned tents force other campers out into more exposed spots at the mercy of the elements. Each tossed O2 canister is another hefty hazard at the whim of gravity and wind.
"It's not my trash or your trash, it's our trash," Harila told AFP in Islamabad.
"Here in K2 if there's some mistake you fall down. If you fall down, all the way you come down," said Mingma David Sherpa, 33, who led a Nepalese team with the Nimsdai Foundation also clearing some 200 kilograms from K2 before passing the baton to Sajid in mid-July.
One day before that moment, the young Sadpara sets eyes on the mountain after days of trekking through glacial wilderness. "I see K2 and I think a different way," he says. But "from a distance you can't see the garbage".
"K2 is more than a mountain for me."


Pakistan PM launches New Energy Vehicle Policy to drive green transport shift

Updated 5 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan PM launches New Energy Vehicle Policy to drive green transport shift

  • Policy targets 30% of vehicles electric by 2030, with 3,000 charging stations
  • Shift is expected to save billions of dollars in petroleum imports, reduce air pollution

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday launched Pakistan’s New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Policy 2025-2030, setting out a roadmap to shift the country toward electric and hybrid transport, cut carbon emissions and curb its rising fuel import bill.

Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad, the prime minister said the policy targets converting 30% of all vehicles to electric by 2030 and installing 3,000 charging stations nationwide.

The shift is expected to save billions of dollars in petroleum imports, reduce urban air pollution that costs the economy over Rs105 billion rupees ($380 million) annually, and make use of Pakistan’s surplus electricity capacity.

“This New Energy Vehicle Policy is not only about clean energy,” Sharif told the ceremony. “It is about empowering our youth, reducing our carbon footprint and opening the door to a new era of innovation and opportunity.”

He said Pakistan, despite contributing little to global emissions, remains one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations.

“Pakistan cannot face this crisis alone,” he added. “I urge the international community to provide both technical and financial support to alleviate the miseries caused by climate change.”

Special Assistant on Industries Haroon Akhtar Khan called the plan a “blueprint for Pakistan’s clean transport revolution,” saying the government was moving beyond simple vehicle assembly into battery production, charging equipment and advanced parts manufacturing.

He maintained electric mobility would become affordable with free registration, toll exemptions and financing reforms, noting that an electric motorcycle already costs less than a third of petrol per kilometer.

Sharif also distributed free e-bikes to top-performing students, calling the gesture symbolic of the policy’s aim to place young people at the center of the energy transition.


Pakistan battles deadly monsoon floods as poor planning worsens toll

Updated 24 min 49 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan battles deadly monsoon floods as poor planning worsens toll

  • Authorities say Pakistan has already received 50 percent more rainfall than this time last year
  • Experts blame weak infrastructure, illegal construction and deforestation for the devastation

ISLAMABAD: Floodwaters gushing through mountain villages, cities rendered swamps, mourners gathered at fresh graves — as Pakistan’s monsoon season once again delivers scenes of calamity, it also lays bare woeful preparedness.

Without better regulation of construction and sewer maintenance, the annual downpours that have left hundreds dead in recent months will continue to kill, experts say.

Even Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appeared to agree as he toured flood-stricken northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last week, where landslides killed more than 450 people.

“Natural disasters are acts of God, but we cannot ignore the human blunders,” he said.

“If we keep letting influence-peddling and corruption control building permits, neither the people nor the governments will be forgiven.”

Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with limited resources for adaptation.

In the devastated mountain villages the prime minister visited, and beyond, residential areas are erected near riverbeds, blocking “natural storm drains,” former climate change minister Sherry Rehman told AFP.

Entrepreneur Fazal Khan now recognizes the “mistake” of building too close to the river.

His home in the Swat Valley was destroyed first by 2010 floods and then again in the 2022 inundation that affected nearly four million Pakistanis.

“On August 15, once again, the floodwater surged through the channel and entered our home,” the 43-year-old father said.

Since it began in June, this year’s monsoon has killed around 800 people and damaged more than 7,000 homes, with further downpours expected through September.

While South Asia’s seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.

By the middle of this month, Pakistan had already received 50% more rainfall than this time last year, according to disaster authorities, while in neighboring India, flash floods and sudden storms have killed hundreds.

Extractive practices have also compounded the climate-related disasters, with cash-strapped but mineral-rich Pakistan eager to meet growing American and Chinese demand.

Rehman, the former minister, said mining and logging have altered the natural watershed.

“When a flood comes down, especially in mountainous terrain, a dense forest is very often able to check the speed, scale and ferocity of the water, but Pakistan now only has five percent forest coverage, the lowest in South Asia,” she said.

Urban infrastructure, too, has faltered.

Days after villages were swept away in the north, a spell of rain in the south brought Pakistan’s financial capital, Karachi, to a standstill.

The coastal megacity — home to more than 20 million people — recorded 10 deaths last week, with victims electrocuted or crushed by collapsing roofs.

A Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) report said brown water inundating streets is not only the result of rain but “clogged drains, inadequate solid waste disposal, poor infrastructure, encroachments, elitist housing societies... and so on.”

Published in the wake of 2020’s deadly floods, the report still rings true today.

According to the commission, the problems are “inherently political” as various parties use building permits to fuel their patronage networks — often disregarding the risks of constructing on top of drainage canals.

In some areas, “the drain has become so narrow that when high tide occurs and it rains simultaneously, instead of the water flowing into the sea, it flows back into the river,” urban planning expert Arif Hasan said in an interview after the 2022 floods.

In the sprawling, rapidly swelling city, the various authorities, both civil and military, have failed to coordinate urban planning, according to the rights commission.

As a result, what infrastructure does get built can solve one problem while creating others.

“Karachi isn’t being destroyed by rain, but by years of negligence,” said Taha Ahmed Khan, an opposition lawmaker in the Sindh provincial assembly.

“Illegal construction and encroachments on stormwater drains, along with substandard roads... have only worsened the crisis,” he added.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab says he has been asking Islamabad every year for help financing the revamping of drainage canals, to no avail.

“It’s easy to suggest that drainage capacity should be enhanced, but the cost is so high that it might require spending almost the entire national budget,” he told AFP.

Yet during June’s budget vote, the opposition accused the city of having spent only 10% of funds earmarked for a massive development project.

The five-year plan, designed with international donors, was supposed to end the city’s monsoon suffering by the end of 2024.

But nearly a year later, there is no respite.


Pakistan’s Punjab requisitions army as monsoon-swollen rivers trigger flood emergency alert

Updated 20 min 36 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan’s Punjab requisitions army as monsoon-swollen rivers trigger flood emergency alert

  • Punjab administration seeks military deployment in Lahore, Kasur, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Narowal, Okara and Sargodha
  • Floodwaters in Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi rivers have forced authorities to evacuate residents from all vulnerable areas

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab said Wednesday it has requisitioned the army for rescue and relief operations in seven districts after major rivers flowing from India swelled with heavy monsoon rains, prompting flood warnings and heightened monitoring for emergencies.

Heavy rains have lashed several parts of Pakistan since August 15, killing 489 people and injuring 348, with the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province recording the highest casualties at 408. Sindh has reported 29 deaths, northern Gilgit Baltistan 26, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 21, Balochistan four and Punjab one, according to official figures.

Since June 26, seasonal rains have killed 802 people and injured 1,088 nationwide, including 479 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 165 in Punjab, 57 in Sindh, 45 in Gilgit Baltistan, 24 in Balochistan and Azad Kashmir, and eight in Islamabad.

Floodwaters in the Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi rivers have now forced authorities to evacuate residents from vulnerable areas of Punjab, the country’s most populous province bordering India.

“The Punjab Home Ministry has written to the federal interior ministry for the deployment of army units in seven districts – Lahore, Kasur, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Narowal, Okara and Sargodha – to support rescue and relief activities,” the provincial administration said in a statement.

Villagers stand outside their houses, partially submerged in floodwaters, after heavy rainfall in the Haqu Wala village at Kasur district on August 24, 2025. (AFP/File)

It added that the number of troops will be determined in consultation with district administrations.

The ministry said the army was called in “to assist civil administration and protect human lives,” with Army Aviation and other resources also on standby for use in flood-affected areas.

Provincial disaster and rescue agencies, police and civil defense units were already working on the frontlines, it said.

‘EXTRAORDINARY’ RIVER FLOWS

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued multiple flood alerts in the early hours of the day, warning of “extraordinary” flows in rivers. At Marala on the Chenab River, discharge crossed 900,000 cusecs at 2 a.m., well above the dangerous threshold.

At Khanki, the flow reached 450,000 cusecs, while the Ravi River at Jassar exceeded 200,000 cusecs, with Kot Naina recording 250,000 cusecs.

Authorities warned low-lying areas around Shahdara, Park View and Motorway-2 near Lahore were at risk of inundation.

“The situation in the Chenab and Ravi rivers is extremely dangerous,” the NDMA said. “Residents along riverbanks and waterways must immediately move to safer locations.”“Avoid unnecessary travel in flood-hit areas, keep emergency kits (water, food, medicines) ready and safeguard important documents,” it added.

The NDMA said it was working in coordination with civil and military authorities nationwide, with the National Emergencies Operation Center on round-the-clock alert.

MINISTERS TO OVERSEE RELIEF

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed federal ministers to personally oversee relief efforts in Punjab, according to a statement from his office on Tuesday.

The ministers were told to visit their constituencies, supervise evacuations and coordinate directly with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

“The prime minister also stressed that the process of relocating residents living along riverbanks to safer places must be made more efficient and swifter,” the statement said.

Focusing on the situation in the rest of the country, the government approved Rs3 billion rupees ($10.8 million) in emergency funds for flood-affected families in Gilgit Baltistan.

The United Nations said it had released $600,000 over the weekend to support Pakistan’s flood relief activities.

The NDMA has warned that Punjab and Azad Kashmir are expected to receive more heavy rains over the next two to three days, raising fears of worsening floods.

Officials say the current monsoon spell is likely to last until at least Sept. 10 and could rival the catastrophic floods of 2022, which killed more than 1,700 people and caused damage exceeding $30 billion.

Annual monsoon rains are vital for Pakistan’s agriculture and water supply but in recent years have also brought devastation, a trend experts link to climate change.

Despite contributing less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, suffering increasingly erratic weather, from droughts and heatwaves to record-breaking rains.


UN releases $600,000 for flood-hit Pakistan as monsoon deaths cross 800

Updated 26 August 2025
Follow

UN releases $600,000 for flood-hit Pakistan as monsoon deaths cross 800

  • Around 174,074 people evacuated from flood-prone areas near Sutlej River, says PM’s Office
  • Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 408 deaths, 258 injuries since Aug. 15

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations has released $600,000 in emergency relief funds for Pakistan, the UN secretary-general’s spokesperson confirmed this week, as the death toll from deadly monsoon rains and floods across the country crossed 800. 

Monsoon rains have wreaked havoc across Pakistan, damaging crops, killing livestock and destroying thousands of houses in the country. Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has reported 802 deaths from monsoon rains and floods since Jun. 26 and 1,088 injuries. 

Rain continues to batter several parts of the country, especially its eastern, most populous Punjab province, where rising water levels in the Sutlej and Ravi rivers have prompted authorities to evacuate over 170,000 people from vulnerable areas. 

“The [Pakistani] authorities are leading the response, with support from the United Nations and local partners,” Stéphane Dujarric, the UN secretary-general’s spokesperson, told reporters during a media briefing on Monday. 

“Over the weekend, Tom Fletcher, our Emergency Relief Coordinator, released $600,000 from the regional pooled fund to support the ongoing efforts.”

Unusually heavy rains since Aug. 15 have killed 489 people and left 348 injured. Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has reported the highest deaths since mid-August, 408 and 258 injuries according to figures shared by the NDMA. 

Dujarric said that according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Pakistanis affected by the flooding need shelter supplies, medical assistance, cash, hygiene kits, clean drinking water and education. 

Pakistan’s top economic decision-making body earlier on Tuesday approved the release of Rs3 billion ($10.8 million) in emergency funds for flood-affected families in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. 

EVACUATIONS, RISING WATER LEVELS

Separately, the NDMA issued an advance alert to the provincial disaster agency in Punjab, the PDMA, regarding rising water levels in the Sutlej River and potential floods. The alert prompted large-scale evacuation operations in areas near the Sutlej River.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting to review the flood situation and relief operations across the country, his office said. 

Sharif directed that rescue operations in the flood-hit districts of Punjab, affected by the overflowing Sutlej river, be further accelerated, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. 

Officials informed Sharif that residents of vulnerable areas near the Sutlej River have been relocated, and that no loss of life has been reported so far.

“Rescue operations are continuing in flood-affected districts near Sutlej River and so far, 174,074 people have been safely evacuated,” the PMO said. 

The prime minister was informed that work to restore power in KP’s flood-affected areas was underway, while in Gilgit-Baltistan, a two-kilometer stretch of the National Highway remains submerged. 

“The meeting was informed that in the next 12 to 24 hours that heavy rainfall is expected in Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat and Rawalpindi divisions as well as in the districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and parts of Gilgit Baltistan,” Sharif’s office said. 

Officials say the ongoing monsoon spell is expected to last until at least Sept. 10, while the NDMA has warned the rains could rival the scale of the catastrophic floods of 2022, which killed more than 1,700 people and caused over $30 billion in damage.

Annual monsoon rains are crucial for Pakistan’s agriculture and water supply but in recent years have also unleashed devastation, intensified by shifting climate patterns.

Despite contributing less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan ranks among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. In recent years it has endured increasingly erratic weather, including droughts, heatwaves and record-breaking rains that have caused widespread loss of life and damage to property.

Experts warn that without urgent adaptation and mitigation measures, the human and economic toll of climate change in Pakistan will only deepen in the years ahead.


International association Andersen Global expands presence in Pakistan with ‘Bridge Factor’

Updated 26 August 2025
Follow

International association Andersen Global expands presence in Pakistan with ‘Bridge Factor’

  • Anderson Global is an international association of firms featuring tax, legal, and valuation professionals
  • Bridge Factor firm’s expertise spans power, sustainable energy, banking, finance and infrastructure sectors

SAN FRANCISCO: Andersen Global has added transaction advisory capabilities in Central Asia through a collaboration agreement with Bridge Factor, headquartered in Pakistan.

Bridge Factor is a financial advisory firm specializing in capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, project finance, restructuring, and valuation. Operating for more than two decades, the firm’s sector expertise spans power and sustainable energy, banking and finance, infrastructure, telecom, transportation, and manufacturing, serving a client base of investors, multinationals, and government entities across Pakistan, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.

“We work with purpose and precision to deliver clear, actionable results in complex financial environments,” said Akbar Bilgrami, CEO of Bridge Factor. 

“Our team has built a reputation for excellence by guiding clients through some of the most challenging and transformative financial transactions. Our collaboration with Andersen Global marks a significant milestone in our journey, expanding our reach and enhancing our ability to support clients navigating high stakes.”

“Expanding our transactional capabilities is a priority as we continue to build a seamless, integrated platform that delivers best-in-class advisory services to clients worldwide,” said Mark L. Vorsatz, global chairman and CEO of Andersen.

 “Bridge Factor brings the deep experience, discipline, and market relationships essential to navigating the complex financial landscapes of the region. Their exceptional track record in executing high-value corporate finance engagements, combined with their sectoral expertise, enhances our ability to deliver strategic solutions to clients.”

Andersen Global is an international association of legally separate, independent member firms comprised of tax, legal, and valuation professionals around the world. 

Established in 2013 by US member firm Andersen Tax LLC, Andersen Global now has more than 20,000 professionals worldwide and a presence in over 500 locations through its member firms and collaborating firms.