Attabad lake: Gulmit-Saust link road inundated
HUNZA: Rise in water level in Attabad lake has inundated a large portion of Shahra-e-Karakorum which also led to submerging of the link road between Gulmit and Saust, cutting off the two areas.
The latest development has turned Gulmit into an Island following inundation of its link routes to other areas of Gojal, leaving over 2,500 people stranded who reside in the affected area.
The water level in Attabad lake has climbed to 323 feet and it has submerged an area spreading to 21 kilometres area. This has raised the risk of flooding in the surrounding areas when the lake reaches the spillway.
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 about 750 kilometres (450 miles) north of Islamabad.
Officials are expecting water from the lake to reach the spillway by May 27 and then overflowing will begin.
They said preparations were finalised to shelter around 18,000 people from villages in Hunza and Gilgit districts who could be affected.
The military-run National Disaster Management Authority 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 in the remote Himalayan region 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 Pakistan’’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.
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 breach of the reservoir,” said Wazir Baig, a lawmaker from Hunza.
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