4 excavaters create initial scar on the landslide debris
by Zulfiqar Ali Khan
HUNZA, January 29: Two houses in Ayeenabad Shishkat on Friday submerged in the lake formed on Hunza River due to the devastating landslide of Jan 04.
According to local administration nine houses in the immediate threat areas were already evacuated through local volunteers. The water approached the houses of Ghulam Rasool and Ghulam Nabi after engulfing about 900 kanals of cultivable and non cultivable land and thousands of trees in Ayeenabad settlement.
The expert of FOCUS monitoring water movement in the lake informed PT that three more houses could submerge in the water within three days. He said the water rising level in the lake remained 2.8 feet per day on Friday and the lake stretches to about eleven kilometer, moving towards Gulmit.
Meanwhile, the Chinese and FWO engineers have completed the approach road and started cutting the water spillway point on Friday to release the water from the lake. The engineers informed this scribe that the water would be released before the deadline if the composition of the debris is not muddy and having larger boulders. The engineers on friday made an excavation of about 1,179 cubic meter area having 2 meter depth, 86 meter length and 7 meter width with the help of 4 excavators of CRBC and FWO.
The helicopter service remained suspended on Friday for two consecutive days and the patients and people having emergencies remained stranded in Gulmit and Aliabad. The local people while praising the helicopter service provided by Government demanded for a army helicopter as the present helicopter can only carry about 12 people or 20 bags of flour.
Four excavators is a good start; but the numbers need to be substantially increased .In Tangjiashan landslide in China more than 30 excavators,back-hoes,dumpers were used and over 600 trained people worked to create channel in landslide dam.We thank every one but request to increase the trained people an dequipment
Engineers say it will take 40 + days to created breach in landslide created dam. 40 days is too much time: up-stream flooding due to river blockage and down-stream water starvation in river.
Why can government / NDMA not use siphon pipes, pump systems to drain some water and keep the dam stabilised. Please the problem is serious and needs urgent attention.
Poor reporting of situation is observed.