Evacuations start amid fears of Hunza lake burst

ATTAABAD (Reuters/AFP) Authorities in Hunza district began evacuating people from villages on Monday, fearful that a lake created by a landslide will burst soon and trigger heavy flooding that could affect 50,000 people. A landslide in early January blocked the Hunza River and created a lake 16km long near Attaabad village. Twenty people were killed and another 25,000 stranded upstream who now struggle to remain linked to the main town of Gilgit. A 24 metre-deep spillway was created to drain the lake and officials hope for a gradual erosion of the blockage. However, they do not rule out the possibility that rising water levels from melting glaciers will create too much pressure, leading to a major breach in coming days. Panicked people took everything they could carry, even doors and windows, as a lake threatened to flood dozens of villages in northern Pakistan, officials and witnesses said. We are starting evacuation from today (Monday) and there will be forced evacuation from tomorrow (Tuesday) and the day after, Lt-Col Amer Siddique, a senior official of the National Disaster Management Authority, told Reuters. He said no one would be left in vulnerable villages by Thursday. Officials say boats have transported 272 tonnes of food and 75,000 litres of fuel upstream to stranded villagers. We have enough food and if there is any shortage, we can get (more supplies) in a day from other areas, said local government official Zafar Waqas Saad. Some involved with relief efforts say the government has not done enough and is playing down the gravity of the situation. The government says enough food and supplies have been stored, said social worker Noor Muhammad. If there is a serious crisis there are only supplies for one month. About 14,000 people in 34 villages of the Gilgit-Baltistan region could be uprooted if the lake bursts, officials say, but residents fear flooding would affect 50,000 people. Mukhtar Hussain, a 40-year-old farmer who was among those evacuated on Monday, said the steps taken so far were not enough. The lake has already swamped at least four upstream villages, displacing nearly 6,000 people, said social worker Muhammad Darjat. A 2km stretch of the Karakoram Highway has also been blocked, hampering trade between Pakistan and China. Water from the lake has submerged parts of Gulmit, a tourist resort on the main Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan with China, resident Rehan Shah said. Army engineers have already created a spillway and water was expected to start draining into it later this week. Officials in jeeps fitted with an address system Monday called on people to leave their homes. Similar announcements have also been made from mosques in the area, an AFP reporter in Gulmit town said.