“The water level in the lake has risen by nearly three inches in the last 24 hours,” said an official in Hunza. He said that the outflow was 16,554 cusecs on Wednesday but still the lake level had risen.
Sources said that hundreds of people from Shishkat and Ainabad, armed with traditional ploughing tools, were once more marching towards the spillway to widen it as the deadline extended by the frustrated people of the submerged villages will be ending on Thursday.
“The government is not doing enough to drain the lake,” said a man who had reached Gilgit from Hunza on Wednesday.
“They are being extra-cautious for reasons best known to them. But we will have to take matters in our own hands if the lake is to be emptied,” he said.
The government has imposed Section 144 according to which, there is a ban on gatherings of five or more people in Hunza district. Officials have said that action will be taken if the people defy the ban.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2010.
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