Impending doom: Threat of landslides looms over residents of Miacher valley

Boulders rolling down slopes of mountains trigger unrest.

GILGIT:

Landslides pose a serious threat to residents of Hunza-Nagar’s Miacher valley, which lies 70 kilometres north-east of Gilgit.

“The situation is dangerous as boulders continue to roll down,” Amjad Hussain, a resident, said on Wednesday. “The recurring landslides have made travelling on the road very risky,” he added.

The landslides, which started a week earlier, have damaged trees and fields alike, besides instilling a constant fear in residents. “The government knows about our plight; what is regrettable is that nothing has been done so far,” said another resident, Asghar Ali.

Following fresh landslides, deputy commissioner of Hunza-Nagar visited the area on Tuesday along with other officials to assess the damage. “The 25 families likely to be affected will be shifted to a safer place,” Deputy Commissioner Usman Ali said. He also directed officials to arrange necessary provisions for the residents immediately.



A major landslide could even block Hunza River, resulting in a catastrophe similar to the one that struck Attabad village in January 2010, killing 20 people. The landslide affected thousands of people, leaving them stranded for months. The lake formed as a result of the disaster came to be known as Attabad Lake.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2014.