Stranded people dissatisfied with boat service

By Zulfiqar Ali Khan in The Dawn, Feb 17
HUNZA, Feb 16: Hundreds of people, including students and patients, stranded in Gojal valley and Hunza have expressed concern over the condition of boats provided by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for ferrying them between the two landslide-affected areas.

Over 500 people stranded in Gojal and Hunza due to the blockade of Karakoram Highway (KKH) by a lake formed on Hunza River after the January 4 landslide.

They urged the government to replace the worn out boats with helicopter service as most of the stranded people were patients and female students who could not travel in the boats being very risky. The boats, they said, were even not appropriate for healthy people.

“The water continuously seeps into the boats besides splashes from outside, which make the passengers wet in a freezing and windy weather, complained a girl student from the far-flung Misgar valley. She said the motors of the boats also stopped functioning during the travelling, risking the lives of the people.

Mehr Bano, a patient from Shimshal, complained of difficulties in travelling saying women, elders and patients could not cross the blockade by foot.

An official of the Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority also expressed dissatisfaction over the conditions of the boats.

An official requesting not to be named said these boats could not be used for transportation of wheat flour and other food items to the 25,000 stranded people of Gojal. He said the crisis could prolong; therefore it was important that flour, medicines, other essential items, patients and women were transported through helicopters.

According to reports, the Shishkat-Gulmit Bridge, which is the second largest bridge on KKH, has developed cracks with the increase in the level of the lake water. The expert monitoring the water level in the lake told Dawn that the bridge would submerge in the lake within 10 days. This could not only cut off the over 3,000 people of Shishkat from the rest of the world, but would also cut the lifeline of communication between Pakistan and China for many years to come.

The lack of any alternative has also increased shortage of flour, medicine and other essential items in Gojal. The people have demanded provision of helicopter to drop food and other items in the affected valley and lift patients and stranded women.

Meanwhile, Speaker Wazir Baig, and Mutabiat Shah, member of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, during their visit to the Ayeenabad village assured the affected people of compensation and rehabilitation.

They said the government was utilising all resources to create breach in the lake. The villagers complained to the speaker of not declaring the displaced families IDPs. They appealed to the government to use modern technologies to ensure immediate release of water from the lake.

Work on creating breach in the lake remained slow for the third day as the Chinese engineers and workers have gone on holidays for New Year’s celebrations. One excavator and three bulldozers of the Frontiers Works Organisation (FWO) are presently working on the site. The FWO has not yet deployed more machines to the site as promised many times www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/stranded-people-dissatisfied-with-boat-service-720