Hunza River: Road planned to access boatyard

Hunza River blockade near Attabad, partial closure of KKH since January 4, 2010, proved major blow to Sino-Pak trade.

HUNZA:

Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) has planned to build a road to provide access to the boatyard of Hunza River spillway.

This was said by Colonel Shahid Masood of the FWO, while talking to a delegation of Gilgit-Baltistan Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

Sharing the highlights of the plan, the FWO colonel said the spillway’s depth will be reduced by 30 metres by the year 2013. This will help in resurfacing of Karakoram Highway (KKH) up to Gulmit, the tehsil headquarters of Gojal valley.

The blockade of Hunza River near Attabad and the partial closure of KKH since January 4, 2010, had proved a major blow to Sino-Pak trade.

It had also cut off thousands of people in Gojal valley, upper Hunza, since the KKH is the only surface link connecting the region to the rest of the country.

Traders are finding it difficult to control the cost of business due to increased labour and transportation charges, which have increased considerably during the last two years.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2012.