GILGIT-BALTISTAN is home to about 3,000 small and huge glaciers, and some villages and highly vulnerable to glacial outbursts, floods, landslides and artificial lakes.

A similar threat is looming in Hunza district where recently a Shishper glacier has broken and blocked the upstream canal of the Hasanabad Valley, thereby forming a dangerous artificial lake just like the one formed in the Attabad Valley back in 2010. This has formed quite a large artificial lake on the head of the village where around 50 homes are located.

Government authorities and Gilgit-Baltistan Natural Disaster Management Authority do not seem proactive about dealing with the situation. They should shift the villagers to a safe area rather than wait for the catastrophe.

Zahid Ali Zohri
Nagar, Gilgit-Baltistan

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2018