Tourist operations in the Punjab, Murree and other northern areas have been suspended due to heavy monzone rains, landslides and an increase in cloud incidents.
Punjab Tourism Secretary, Raja Jahangir Anwar, said Tuesday that climate change has severely interrupted the tourism sector, causing substantial economic losses.
“Both national and international tourism have suffered,” he said. “The cable car in Patria has closed after one of its pylons collapsed during torrential rains.” During the last two days, tourist activities in Murree, Kallar Kahar, Los Lagos de Chakwal and other destinations from the North have stopped.
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“A large number of local tourists from Punjab’s Plains and Sindh generally travel to these destinations, but all those activities have now stopped,” he said.
Despite the setbacks, Anwar emphasized that tourism could not be abandoned. “Tourism cannot be renounced by climate change,” he said. “The Punjab government has assigned RS33 billion for new tourist attractions, restoration of heritage sites and infrastructure improvements in the northern regions.”
He added that Murree, Kallar Kahar and the Salt mountain range were being improved, while Fort Munro was becoming a Prime Hill station.
Anwar also said that tourism facilities were being activated in Rajanpur, Layyah and fine. “We are putting special emphasis on promoting desert tourism in southern Punjab, particularly in Cholistan,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Authority for Disaster Management (PDMA) has issued an advice that urges citizens to avoid traveling to northern tourist places and to monitor climatic conditions before planning trips.
According to official figures, since June 2025, at least 162 people have lost their lives and hundreds have been injured in incidents related to the monsoon, particularly in the Salt and Chakwal range, where sudden clouds and floods have caused a generalized devastation.
