Gilgit-Shandur road remains blocked
Staff Report
GHIZER: Several areas in Gilgit Baltistan’s Ghizer district have been cut off for five days, as preparations are underway to clear the Gilgit-Shandur road, authorities said on Tuesday.
According to locals, majority of the areas in the Ghizer district, including Gupis, Phander, and Yasin tehsils, remained stranded for five days as five kilometres of the region’s main road were submerged by an artificial lake formed at Raoshan village in Ghizer.
Local resident Meraj Ali Shah told media that 300 houses had been damaged by the glacial flood, with houses submerged due to artificial lake in Hakis, Thangi, and Raoshan villages as they remained without basic necessities.
He added that hundreds of people had been displaced when a glacial lake outburst flood swept everything in Tildas village.
“They are living without electricity, drinking water, proper accommodation, medical facilities, [and] other basic needs,” he said.
Locals also complained of a lack of support from the government, adding that they had been dependent on relief items by welfare organisations.
Two patients in a critical condition were taken from Gupis to Gilgit on Monday through a helicopter belonging to the Aga Khan Development Network, as per the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat.
According to the locals, people affected in previous floods in Ghizer’s Khalti, Daen, Chaturkhand, Yasin, and other areas did not have access to roads, clean drinking water, and other necessities.
Since three weeks, the Karakoram Highway at Hassanabad Hunza could not be opened as it was blocked after a Glof from Shishper glacier submerged a portion of the thoroughfare, posing severe difficulties to Hassanabad’s residents. The Glof also damaged dozens of homes, farmland, and the area’s government and private infrastructure.
