GILIGT: The Hunza-Nagar district administration has assured the people of Gojal that the boat service across the artificially formed Atabad Lake would continue during winter to facilitate their access to other parts of the country.

Hunza-Nagar deputy commissioner Imran Ali Sultan told Dawn that the district administration was taking every possible step to provide safe boat service to the Gojal residents during the winter months.

He said that currently the district administration had two boats, one of which was donated by the USAID, to facilitate the people.

During this winter, said Mr Sultan, there would be four round trips between Shishkat and Atabad to facilitate the people, especially women, children and senior citizens.

He said that boats would be operated from morning till evening to ensure that water didn’t freeze.

Mr Sultan said that a Chinese company had been contacted to provide a raft boat to break ice for easy boat operations.

He said that it would be ensured that boat service continued throughout the winter without any hindrance.

Meanwhile, the residents of Gojal fear that they would have another harsh winter with shortage of food items and other necessities of life due to freezing of the lake, which is the only means for them to access other parts of the country.

They said that despite more than five years after the Atabad disaster, the federal and regional governments failed to provide an alternative route to reach other parts of the country.

They mostly depend on the boat service, which mostly gets halted when the lake water freezes in winter.

Mohammad Moin Wakhani, a student from Gojal who is studying in Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, said that people of Gojal remained cut off from rest of the country during winter due to freezing of lake which made it difficult for boat operations.

He said that people had been facing shortage of edibles, fuel, medicines and other necessary items.

Kamaluddin, another student, said that there was only one boat operated by the government, adding that due to drastic drop in temperature and severity of wind, travel by boat got even more dangerous.

Published in Dawn December 22th , 2014