GILGIT:
The government is planning to relocate residents of Talus village where floods and landslides swept away more than 80 houses late Saturday night, officials said on Monday.
“Rehabilitation of residents within the village doesn’t seem to be a viable option now,” Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Mehdi Shah said in Skardu on Monday.
He said that the people affected by the catastrophe will be compensated and relocated to a suitable place. “But until then, the government will provide food and shelter during Ramazan,” Shah
assured the village residents.
Resident of the remote village in Baltistan were struck by landslides and floods in a glacial stream late Saturday, sweeping away over 80 houses and damaging another 100 in the village where last year’s floods killed 12 people. At least one person was reported missing.
“There was chaos when the landslides hit the village,” a resident of the affected village said on Monday. “A number of fruits and crops were buried under the debris.”
Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Khaliq said that the government was providing medicine, beds and tents for the people.
He lauded efforts of the Pakistan Army in the relief work, saying that they were actively providing support. The chief minister as well as the region’s force commander and chief secretary also visited the village.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 2nd, 2011.
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Global climate change will trigger more such events in mountain areas of Pakistan.
The government should address this issue with proper planning and with Urgency. They should consult NGO FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance who have done excellent work in Chitral and GB province and Sindh and had done trailblazing work during Attabad landslide.I had personally seen their work of early warning system and disaster mitigation and it was Excellent quality work.