Gojal: Excited and Hopeful, after the decrease in water level

PT Report

Hussaini, March 8: The people of Gojal have shown excitement over the decrease in water level in the dammed Hunza River. Several portions of different villages have resurfaced for the first time in 27 months.

Many people are carefully praising the FWO and thanking the organization for the excavation work, with a tone of resentment also. “If they had started the work at this pace one year ago we may have already started settling down”, a Hasan Khan, a local person told Pamir Times.

“We are excited but there is also a fear”, a lady named Fatima said. “If they stop working, the water level will come back to its original position and our excitement will be for just a few days”, she said.

It is pertinent to note that frustrated by months of isolation and acute lack of basic health facilities and access to markets, the people of Gojal Valley had been protesting against government and administration for months. Several cases were registered against dozens of people, mostly youth, on charges they deny.

The slight glimpse of recovery has, however, been a source of joy in the valley, where people have exhibited exemplary resilience in the face of multiple disasters.