Transport initiative: G-B govt to run free boat service across Attabad lake

Service to run weekly, during daytime.

GILGIT:

The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government has launched a free winter boat service for passengers crossing the Attabad Lake.

Shehzad Ahmad, a senior government official, said the decision was taken in view of difficulties that passengers are facing trying to cross the 23-kilometre-long lake in the winter, when temperatures plummet below -15 degrees centigrade in the Hunza Valley. In December and January, the lake freezes, making any travel risky.

Ahmad said that the meeting, where the decision was taken, was chaired by the G-B chief secretary and attended by senior officials of the Disaster Management Authority, as well as army and local administration officials.

He said the service would be offered once a week and was not affiliated with any private boat company on the same route.



In order to ensure safe, daytime travel, the free boat will leave at 8am from Attabad for Gulmit, where it will leave at 12pm again to return to Attabad.

The Attabad Lake was formed in January 2010 after a massive landslide blocked the Hunza River, submerging approximately 25 kilometres of the highway which connects the Gojal Valley to the rest of the province. 19 people in Attabad were killed by the disaster and over 25,000 people in the upper Hunza Valley were cut off.

The submersion of the road meant that travelling by boat was the only viable option left for passengers. In the past, the army has had to rescue passengers from boats getting stuck in the middle of the lake due to icy conditions.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2012.