The writer is a freelance columnist. As floods in Punjab and Azad Jammu & Kashmir for the fourth consecutive year leave behind harrowing tales of loss of life, destruction of infrastructure, livestock, property and cash crops, the debate amongst academics has veered towards a narrative that increasingly questions the utility and usefulness of dams and barrages. As the Multi-Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) gets underway in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the…
Posts published in September 2014
By Shehzad Anwar / Shabbir Mir in The Express Tribune, Sept 27th, 2014. ISLAMABAD / GILGIT: The government of Gilgit–Baltistan (G-B) is finding it hard to deal with the scars left by the Nanga Parbat massacre last year. The June 22, 2013 attack at the base camp for the 8,126-metre-high Nanga Parbat, Pakistan’s second-highest mountain, was one of the deadliest assaults on foreigners in the country. At least 10 foreign climbers and their Pakistani guide…
MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court here on Tuesday accepted for regular hearing a writ petition challenging the recently constituted AJK Public Service Commission (PSC) under an amended piece of law. The single member bench, comprising Chief Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, has issued notices to the official and private respondents to submit their written statements before or by the next date of hearing on October 2. The petition has been…
The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2014 MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Monday sought the international community’s help in opening of the Line of Control (LoC) for supply of relief goods to the flood affected people in Indian Kashmir. AJK Finance Minister Chaudhry Latif Akbar presented a resolution in the assembly urging the world community and Pakistani government to put pressure on India to allow supply of relief goods…
MANSEHRA: Residents of Kohistan have warned Wapda to stop work on the 4320mw Dasu hydropower project, otherwise they would stop it forcibly and would also block Karakoram Highway for an indefinite period. The warning came at a jirga held after failure of talks with Deputy Commissioner Upper Kohistan Zafarul Islam on Monday.Owners of the lands, both east and west sides of River Indus, met Zafarul Islam and apprised him about their decision of not…
GILIGT: Police foiled a sabotage attempt by defusing a bomb planted near a mosque in Gilgit city on Friday night. Jutial police station SHO Syed Kamran told Dawn that police were informed late on Friday by residents that they had seen three suspects entering Ali Mosque in defence colony and then immediately leaving the building around 10pm on Friday. Afterwards, he added that a police team arrived at the scene and discovered an explosive…