Govt agrees ‘in principle’ to using explosives

The government has in principle agreed to use explosives to blast boulders blocking the flow of water through Attabad lake.

The government has in principle agreed to use explosives to blast boulders blocking the flow of water through the Attabad lake spillway, officials told The Express Tribune on Sunday.

Amid fears of a flash flood, nearly 25,000 people from 37 villages downstream have already been shifted to relief camps in Hunza, Nagar and Nomal areas. Upstream, the lake has submerged at least four villages, forcing residents to flee from their homes and take shelter further upstream.

“It has been principally decided to use explosives to widen the spillway,” said an official, requesting anonymity. He said a team of experts examined the spillway on Sunday and discussed various options before arriving at the decision that blasting the boulders was the most feasible action.

At least three boulders currently prevent water from eroding spillway’s banks.

“It is a matter of time before the plan will be executed,” the official said, adding that a contingency plan to deal with flooding had been finalised.

He said that National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt-General Farooq Ahmed was supervising the plan and monitoring the spillway.

Meanwhile, other officials told The Express Tribune said that people displaced by the ‘landslide lake,’  especially those from Shishkat, Gulmit and Ainabad villages, have issued the government an ultimatum, telling the government to either widen the spillway or let the villagers widen it themselves.

About 200 lake victims had made an attempt on Friday to widen the spillway but retreated after authorities assured them the spillway would be widened officially.

The displaced persons told the authorities they could no longer tolerate delays in dealing with the crisis which had already caused them irrecoverable financial losses, a resident of Hunza said.

Meanwhile, authorities said that he rising temperatures had intensified the melting of glaciers, making water inflow in the lake greater than the outflow. The total outflow recorded on Sunday was nearly 5,700 cusecs.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2010.