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| June 27, 2005 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 19, 1426 |
Water level rising in river Gilgit
GILGIT, June 26: The water level in the Gilgit river kept rising for the seventh day on Sunday and touched an alarming level in the districts of Gilgit and Ghizer as baking temperatures melted more snow and glaciers in the Northern Areas.
Sources in the Ghizer district said that local people and government departments had launched a joint rescue operation to stop erosion of roads and crop fields by strengthening the shaky embankments along the river Gilgit.
The residents said the floodwater had inundated the Ghizer Road in Hurpoondas and Gitch areas where sandbags and rocks were being transported in tractors to stop the likely erosion.
But the effort is being hampered by a suspension of traffic between the two districts from 5pm till morning for the last one week as floodwater in Sharoot Nullah blocks the road, they said.
They urged the government to build a bridge over the affected area for a permanent solution.
In Gilgit, the floodwater and currents did not stop causing erosions at various areas, including Hanzal, Baseen, Amphary, Sukarkoi, Konodas and Domiyal. People in the lower areas and downstream have abandoned their houses in fear but without any alternative arrangements.
The residents said the administration had closed the River Road for all traffic as water currents had damaged it at two points and made it impassable.
In Sonikot area, the floodwater had submerged a water suction pump and its rooms, residents said.
A positive aspect of the situation was that river currents washed away heaps of municipal garbage which had been dumped and scattered along the riverbanks, dislodged increasing encroachment on the riverbed and offered an opportunity to the public to flock to the riverbanks and beat the heat.
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