Disconnected: Babusar Top police lack all communication facilities

Tourists say police are ill-equipped to deal with any situation

GILGIT: The police stationed at Babusar Top, a popular picnic spot, lack all communication facilities. This was said on Monday by tourists who had reached Gilgit from the area.

The Babusar Top is a stopover for many tourists on their way to valleys in Gilgit-Baltistan via Kaghan. They choose to break their journey and enjoy the snow or greenery before setting off for G-B.

“The place is beautiful, but security is not up to the mark,” Sajid Iqbal said on Monday, a day after reaching Gilgit from the top. He spent the night there with his family.

“The police, on the Naran side of Babusar Top, lack phones or any other means of communication. They have to travel one extra hour just to make a phone call from Naran, if needed,” he told The Express Tribune.



The personnel deployed in the area are even bereft of walkie-talkies, resulting in them being disconnected from policemen on K-P side of the top. They also lack proper lodging facilities, though there are some police vehicles at their disposal. Likewise, there are no facilities to meet the medical emergency needs of the personnel.

“The area is mountainous and passenger cars have been robbed in the recent past,” said Mushtaq Khan, another visitor. He pointed out that only nominal investment was needed by both the K-P and G-B governments to improve facilities for the police at the top.”

On the other hand, the G-B police department says a police unit for tourists will be established in the region to help all visitors.

“The unit will be similar to the high altitude police or CPEC patrolling police,” said Mubarak Jan, a regional police department spokesperson.

He was referring to G-B IGP Zafar Iqbal’s statement in which he announced that the decision was taken at a high-level meeting this week. He said personnel of the unit will be inducted from each district and recruitments will be based purely on merit. “This police will only be for tourists’ welfare
and security.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2016.