Fuel shortage: Nine days dry

Damaged Alam Bridge causing petroleum shortage in Baltistan.

SKARDU:

The damage to Alam Bridge, Baltistan’s only connection with the rest of the world, has not been repaired despite the passage of nine days, leading to scarcity of petrol and diesel severely hitting the two districts of Baltistan.

Alam Bridge is located 180 kilometres from Skardu towards Gilgit. The bridge has been closed for nine days, after a steel support cable broke. Since then, heavy traffic over the bridge has been suspended, however, light traffic is running.

Stocks of petrol and diesel have finished in the Skardu and Ghanche districts, and the district administration has taken control of a few petrol pumps to use the available stock in case of emergency.

Due to the shortage of petrol and diesel, the local populace are facing severe problems dropping their children off to schools, and similarly, patients are also facing hardships in getting to hospitals. A man said, “Taxi drivers are charging exorbitant rates and we have no other option to take patients to hospitals.”

Some people are selling one litre of petrol for Rs300 on the black market.

According to eyewitnesses, a large cue of oil tankers are waiting for the bridge to be restored while traders are paying through the nose to bring edible items and other essential commodities across the bridge using tractors and are selling these commodities at exorbitant prices in Skardu and Ghanche to make up the difference.

Official sources said that only a single steel wire of the bridge has been broken, which normally takes one day to fix. However none of the Gilgit-Baltistan administration, Frontier Works Organisation or National Highway Authority were taking responsibility to fix the bridge.

The public has vehemently criticised the negligent attitude of the concern authorities, but to no avail. As the only road link to the region, Alam Bridge also holds importance in terms of defence and tourism.

When contacted, Baltistan Commissioner Dr Sajid Chohan said that on his request, the Gilgit-Baltistan home secretary provided a crane to the concerned authority from a Chinese contractor working on the Karakoram Highway to fix the broken steel cable. The home secretary said that the bridge would be restored by Wednesday evening, he added.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2011.