By Zeeshan Javaid in the Daily Times, April 7
ISLAMABAD: A 12.08-kilometre lake formed by a massive landslide in Hunza valley is threatening to sweep through the area, wipe out villages and endanger 45,000 people who live downstream, but there is no chance of bursting of the lake, Daily Times learnt on Tuesday.
Sources told Daily Times that the lake’s depth has reached 251.25 feet, while average water level in the water mass rises 1.4 feet near the lake barrier on a daily basis.
According to sources, engineers were racing to build a channel at the top of the natural dam, formed by a landslide in early January, which killed 19 people and blocked the Hunza River and this would let the water drain from the lake gradually.
“Water inflow in Hunza River is recorded at 1032 cusecs, but the water inflow rate is subject to variations in temperature and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs),” he said. He confirmed that a number of households have been displaced by the lake water in Ayeenabad and Shishkat (Gojal Valley) and thousands of trees have also drowned in the lake.
The lake water has also submerged a bridge between Gulmit and Shishkat on the Karakoram Highway and has destroyed 7 kilometers of the road.
Officials from the Pakistan Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FHA) told Daily Times that three seepage points existed at the lake barrier and 18 cusecs water discharged from the first and largest seepage point, while 2 and 0.5 cusecs of water discharged from the second and third seepage points respectively. He said the FHA had installed Early Warning System (EWS) by working closely with the district administrations, as part of its preparedness mechanism, which consists of SMS-triggered early warning sirens that were installed at 12 most vulnerable locations of Hunza-Nagar and Gilgit district, while Lake Monitoring Station (LMS) equipped with satellite phones and close circuit TV cameras had also been installed.
A FHA official said during his visit to HUNZA, Professor David Petley from the International Landslide Centre (ILC) at Durham University, warned that there was a “substantive risk of an outburst” as the water level approached the top of the dam. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\07\story_7-4-2010_pg7_12
Be First to Comment