SHANGLA: The northern areas of Pakistan are famous for their beautiful waterfalls, mostly located in Kohistan and Shangla districts.

About 100 waterfalls are located in Bisham, Shangla and upper Kohistan districts and most of them could be seen stretching along Indus River while travelling through the Karakoram Highway.

The large and charming waterfalls originating at 1,000 to 5,000 meters height and falling with a great speed attract large crowds. These are regarded as tourist spots and a large number of domestic and foreign tourists visit them. The tourists also enjoy seeing scenic waterfalls wherever they travel in Giligt-Baltistan and Hunza.

“The waterfall is really amazing to see besides enjoying cool winds and humming sounds,” said Aksa Nauman, a member of a tourist family making snaps with a waterfall at Dassu.

She said that from Bisham to Chilas they had seen many beautiful waterfalls from their vehicle. She said that the Indus River flowing along Karakoram Highway also presents another scenic view.

Ashfaq Ahmed, a tourist from Lahore, said that he had only seen such beautiful waterfalls in movies, but today he enjoyed the panoramic view of the waterfall from atop and its roaring noise punctuated by chirping of birds.

“The government could generate big revenue by developing these waterfalls into proper tourist spots in Shangla and Kohistan districts. There are no such facilities for tourists like hotels here,” he said.

A foreign tourist, Adeen Kalam, told this correspondent that he enjoyed seeing natural scenery and the queue of waterfalls along the Karakoram Highway and Indus River besides the lush green mountains. However, he complained that the road from Dassu to Chilas was in a dilapidated condition and created difficulties for tourists.

“The government should take steps for providing facilities to tourists along the Karakoram Highway and ensure installing signboards to guide them about the tourist spots in Kohistan,” he said.

When contacted, MPA Abdul Sattar Khan said that Kohistan was full of natural beauty; there are numerous waterfalls, springs, rare birds and many picturesque scenes in the valley.

“We have a lot of natural resources, but unfortunately the area is still unexplored,” he said and sought media’s help to promote the tourist destinations of the area, especially the Suppat Valley.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2016