“Chinese have agreed to deepen and widen the Attabad lake spillway and release water from the lake to restore 17 kilometers of the submerged portion of the Karakoram Highway.
The remaining seven kilometers portion will be realigned and reconstructed,” the chief minister said while talking to a delegation of Pakistan People’s Party from Gojal Tehsil. The team, led by PPP leader Hunar Baig, called on CM Shah at the Chief Minister’s House in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The team sought opening of historical routes between Pakistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan and China borders to facilitate Wakhi Pamiri people living around the Pamir Knot to meet each other. They also demanded easing of visa restrictions for the Wakhi people and allowing them to get treatment and education in Dushanbe, capital city of Tajikistan and Urumchi, China.
The Chief Minister promised to take up the issue with Foreign Office.
He said that Chinese government has announced 500 scholarships for Pakistani students, especially for the students of Gilgit-Baltistan.
He told the team, that he will soon visit Shimshal, Chipursan and other far-flung valleys in Gojal to assess their urgent problems which had become critical after the freezing of the lake and stoppage of all means of transport from and to Gojal tehsil.
He assured the team that helicopter service would soon be resumed in place of the suspended boat service.
The delegation reminded the Chief Minister that both the Federal and Gilgit-Baltistan governments had promised that the government would bear the educational expenses of Gojal students for at least two year to provide financial relief to parents in the affected areas but no fund had been released yet for the students studying in different cities of the country including Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Abbottabad.
Chief Minister Shah said that Rs10 million has already been disbursed in Gojal and the second tranche will be released soon.
He also said that steps would be taken to stop land erosion in Passu, Khyber, Sost and Shimshal by constructing protective dykes.
The delegation appreciated the efforts of the government in securing relief assistance from China to the affected population in upper Hunza.
The CM also assured construction of a bridge and link road in Rahimabad Shimshal. He will announce some projects during his forthcoming visit to the valley.
He also promised appointment of a woman adviser from Gojal, and appointment of doctor in tehsil headquarters hospital Gulmit, local people in government departments, including forest. The CM also hinted at reshuffle in top bureaucracy of Hunza-Nagar and reorganisation of PPP in the district.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2010.
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