Hunza landslide lake may burst within days

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

* NDMA says 36 villages identified for evacuation in case lake bursts
* Army engineers to take two more weeks to build spillway

Staff Report

GILGIT: Thousands of villagers in the north of the country risk losing their homes to a lake formed by a landslide that could burst its banks within days, officials warned on Wednesday.

Possible disaster also threatens the popular tourist resort of Gulmit on the main Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan with China, part of which has already closed, they said.

About 1,700 people have been forced to flee their homes after floods swept through Ayeenabad and Shishkat villages in the district of Hunza, wiping out dozens of houses.

“We are expecting water from the 15 kilometre-long lake to reach the spillway by May 27,” local official Asif Bilal Lodhi told AFP. Lodhi, who heads the local Disaster Management Authority, said preparations have been finalised to shelter around 18,000 people from villages in Hunza and Gilgit districts who could be affected.

Villages: The NDMA said 36 villages have been identified for evacuation in case the waters burst. The lake was created out of the Hunza river by a landslide on January 4 that killed 20 and left about 25,000 people stranded when the river was blocked.

Authorities have set up nine relief centres where medicines and food items are being stockpiled for people who could be uprooted from low-lying areas.

They have also installed warning sirens linked to a control room in Gilgit, the nearest large town. In the scenic town of Gulmit, popular with tourists escaping the brutal summer heat in the country’s lowlands, residents have felled trees as the water level in the lake has risen to over 300 feet (about 100 metres). The water is expected to rise further because of rain and melting glaciers.

Spillway: A spillway, being built by army engineers to avert possible disaster, will take an estimated two more weeks to complete. It should divert the water back to its old route winding into the Gilgit river. Meanwhile, people in Gojal town have been forced to take boats after roads were left under water.

Public representatives, however, have said they are pleased with the way things are being handled. “We are satisfied with the relief work but concerned for the permanent rehabilitation of those who are affected and will be affected after a breach of the reservoir,” said Wazir Baig, a lawmaker from Hunza.

Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Mehdi Shah visited the area to assess the situation.

The chief of the army staff, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, also visited Hunza amid tight security arrangements to assess the extent of destruction caused by the January 4 landslide and the lake formed on the Hunza river. He said the Pakistan Army was with the people of Hunza in this difficult time, adding that the army was fully committed to help in the relief efforts. He said the troops were making efforts to ensure the release of water without any further destruction. However, the army chief asserted that the people affected should not expect compensation more than Rs 25,000 to 50,000.