Hunza Lake in Attabad - potential disaster in the making

[third eye]

Lake in Pakistan begins to overflow - CENTRAL/S. ASIA - Al Jazeera English

Lake in Pakistan begins to overflow

A lake in northern Pakistan formed when landslides blocked a river four months ago has begun to overflow, Al Jazeera's correspondent says.

Levels are now critical and it is feared that the spillage on Saturday could weaken the wall of rocks and earth preventing it from engulfing dozens of villages.

Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from the town of Gilgit, 100km downstream from Hunza lake, said thousands of villagers from the area have been forced to move to higher ground.

The armed forces started an emergency helicopter service on Thursday to evacuate some villages amid fears a potential burst could affect about 50,000 people downstream and sever a road serving as an important trade link with China.

Moved into camps

Thousands have been moved into camps amid fears that the lake could burst its banks.

The lake was formed in January when a landslide blocked the Hunza river, and the waters have steadily risen since then, threatening to burst its banks and inundate more than 39 villages in the regions of Hunza and Gilgit.

Over the past few months many villages have been swallowed in the reservoir and stranded people have had to use boats to travel on the icy waters.

Officials hope for a gradual erosion of the blockage once the water starts flowing sometime next week through a canal that army engineers created to drain the lake.

But they have not ruled out a sudden breach that could lead to massive flooding.

Many residents have complained that the government's help came too late.

Gulmit, a popular tourist resort, is also threatened by the build-up of water. Part of the Karakoram Highway that links Pakistan and China, has already been closed.

And the fast-approaching summer season will further melt glaciers and snow caps - posing an even bigger danger.

 

[Comet]

Dont worry about Tarbela Army .I dont think anything gonna happen to it.

Tarbela Army???

Sir,

I was talking about the silt that will come in the dam with the flood.

 

[Spring Onion]

The idiots govt had ignored the warnings when engineers were telling them to look into the landslid issue but the govt kept it ignored for many months and now when the water is spilling endangering thousands of people even then the govt is delaying the rescue and other operations to help them.


SO is the govt doing it deliberately to happen ??? So that the sitting rulers ask for international aid and fill their banks

 

[alibaz]

The idiots govt had ignored the warnings when engineers were telling them to look into the landslid issue but the govt kept it ignored for many months and now when the water is spilling endangering thousands of people even then the govt is delaying the rescue and other operations to help them.


SO is the govt doing it deliberately to happen ??? So that the sitting rulers ask for international aid and fill their banks

Now they will have a lot of money to distribute among disaster hit people. This money will come from national/ international donors and out of tax payers pockets and we all know where will it go. So its party time for evils, that what they were waiting for by giving deaf ear to engineer

 

[sparklingway]

SO is the govt doing it deliberately to happen ??? So that the sitting rulers ask for international aid and fill their banks

 

[Spring Onion]

is it for the govt? or ?

 

[sparklingway]

is it for the govt? or ?

On your response that alleged that the delay and lack of effective response may have been intentional in order to extract aid in the wake of a disaster.

 

[Spring Onion]

On your response that alleged that the delay and lack of effective response may have been intentional in order to extract aid in the wake of a disaster.

So you dont think that the govt has not taken action in time?

 

[Patriot]

Guys stop making new conspiracy theories out of nothing.Just can't resist to take shots at Federal Government.

 

[Comet]

It is true that the government has delayed its actions. If the natural dam was TNTed early i.e. right after the incident, things would have been different.

 

[Spring Onion]

Guys stop making new conspiracy theories out of nothing.Just can't resist to take shots at Federal Government.

Hey arent you an Indian

Ok on a serious note the landsliding took place many months back an engineer was is working on a vital dam had informed the govt and time and again was asking for early plan in case the water level reaches the dangerous level where it starts spilling BUT in vain.

The media has also started crying very late.


Its time we should open our eyes and accept the mistakes. This federal govt had miserably failed at many fronts.

 

[Patriot]

Hey arent you an Indian

Ok on a serious note the landsliding took place many months back an engineer was is working on a vital dam had informed the govt and time and again was asking for early plan in case the water level reaches the dangerous level where it starts spilling BUT in vain.

The media has also started crying very late.


Its time we should open our eyes and accept the mistakes. This federal govt had miserably failed at many fronts.

Yeah I am a Pakistani.I agree government is not competent but we should talk like that in open because Indian members will take cheap shots at our government.

 

[alibaz]

As per General (R) Nadeem water passig through spill way is about 150 cusic. erossion of spill way has also started. water in spill way is about 8 foot deep.

 

[sparklingway]

So you dont think that the govt has not taken action in time?

Did I say that or did I say that your allegations that it was intentional and based on profiting from it were false?

The delay is as condemnable as any terrorist incident but our state machinery responds slowly and inefficiently to such massive problems.

Work had begun as early as January and NDMA was on board. NDMA, the KP PDMA and Hunza DDMA were all illequipped and under-funded to handle the disaster. NDMA does not have the financial resources or hardware to deal with such a calamity. The response was slow but work on the spillway had begun quite early. Funds for the spillway were released aptly and had you cared follow the initial response you would have known what was being done. It was not enough and still is not enough, but the state has not left the people at the mercy of mother nature unlike Katrina and neither has it absolved itself of its duty to provide relief and rescue. Our financial and institutional problems limit our responses from being far from effective in such disasters.

Relief efforts had begun in January just after the landslide and construction work for controlling the rising water level in the lake was started in February after the initial response of repairing the roads.

There is no doubt that response has been slow and ineffective but reasons are national institutional problems rather than the conspiracy of an intentional delay to gain profit. You might abhor our ruling political class and they might as well be demons, but there are a far bigger number of people who have not forgotten the basic human values.

 

[Spring Onion]

Did I say that or did I say that your allegations that it was intentional and based on profiting from it were false?

It wasnt allegation it was a fear, possibility with a question mark.

The delay is as condemnable as any terrorist incident but our state machinery responds slowly and inefficiently to such massive problems.

Thats what i am saying. We know our official response to such situation is slow and inefficient.

But keeping in view the area and some possibility of damage to your vital dam too and the danger to about 70,000 people of the area, this negligence is criminal.

Work had begun as early as January and NDMA was on board. NDMA, the KP PDMA and Hunza DDMA were all illequipped and under-funded to handle the disaster. NDMA does not have the financial resources or hardware to deal with such a calamity. The response was slow but work on the spillway had begun quite early. Funds for the spillway were released aptly and had you cared follow the initial response you would have known what was being done. It was not enough and still is not enough, but the state has not left the people at the mercy of mother nature unlike Katrina and neither has it absolved itself of its duty to provide relief and rescue. Our financial and institutional problems limit our responses from being far from effective in such disasters.

Relief efforts had begun in January just after the landslide and construction work for controlling the rising water level in the lake was started in February after the initial response of repairing the roads.

There is no doubt that response has been slow and ineffective but reasons are national institutional problems rather than the conspiracy of an intentional delay to gain profit. You might abhor our ruling political class and they might as well be demons, but there are a far bigger number of people who have not forgotten the basic human values.

Sir sir sir KP is not capable of dealing with such situation simple as that NDMA either.


I am sad over the response of the Federal Government . It was informed much before the worsening of the situation.

At the end you had called army if the civilian administration can not handle the situation than what are they sitting for ?

For every such situation you have to call army but for how long this will continue ?

Is Army equipped for such work more than the NDMA? or concern departments ?