Attabad tragedy: Black day planned on lake disaster anniversary

Locals hope to voice their indignation over the govt’s tepid response.

GILGIT: As the first anniversary of the tragic Attabad lake disaster nears, people in Gojal and elsewhere in the country have decided to mark it as a ‘black day’.

By observing a black day, the locals hope to voice their indignation over the government’s ‘half-hearted’ efforts in draining the lake that has left over 25,000 people marooned in Gojal.

Ibrahim Khan, a resident of Gojal told The Express Tribune on Saturday that the people of Gojal, no matter where they live, will observe a black day with an objective to make the government take note of the plight of people. “It’s been a year now. Those who died in the tragedy are no longer in the mess but those who survived are going through a rough patch on a daily basis only because of the government,” said Bakhtullah, another resident of Gojal.

The Attabad Lake that has stretched up to over 20 kilometres in the course of events has submerged a chunk of the Karakoram Highway (KKH).

Adding fuel to fire, the boat service, the only alternative travelling facility available till mid December, has also been discontinued.

“The only thing we wanted was the draining of the lake so we could return to a normal life. But unfortunately that didn’t happen,” Bakhtullah regrets as winter augments their miseries.

According to the information gathered by The Express Tribune, as part of the black day events, students will be setting up a hunger strike camp in Karachi. The camp will be set up in front of the Karachi Press Club for four days.

Similarly Gojal locals living in the federal capital will take out a rally, with preparations in full swing. Ali Qurban, a teacher by profession who is actively involved in Attabad politics since the tragedy, flayed the government for not assigning the task of draining the lake to China.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2011.