Pictorial – The calamity in Badakhshan, Afghanistan
Islamabad: A massive landslide in the Argo District of Badakhshan Province, located in Afghanista, has killed more than 2000 people and buried several thousand more. These photographs show the scale of the devastation and the efforts of the local people to retrieve bodies from the debris of the mudslide.
A relatively smaller landslide in the Hunza Valley four years back had led to the death of 19 people and displaced several thousands of people. The impact of that disaster on the economy of Gilgit-Baltistan can be felt even today.
The photographs below have been taken from various newspapers and websites to depict the scale of the disaster and raise awareness about the risk of landslides and other natural disasters in the neighboring districts of Gilgit, Baltistan and Chitral. There are also many similarities in the scale and nature of destruction caused and the communities’ initial responses.
There are many geographical, economic, social and cultural similarities between the neighboring regions and, thus, similar solutions can be found out to mitigate the risks of the disasters in the years ahead.
