When in December 2009 and January 2010, the landslide created a natural dam in Hunza, the Army was given the responsibility to clear it and Mr Qammar Zaman Kaira was supposed to supervise the whole effort. According to an article in an English language newspaper about this Ata Abad Hunza lake dam, it was reported that the Army was using old and outdated earth-moving equipment. Another act of negligence was not asking for Chinese help in the matter. The Army and FWO machinery was prone to frequent break downs and that lost us very precious time as not enough machinery was used to do the job, the article says. Keep in mind that at that time, the river flow was very light as the snow in mountains had not melted yet. The task was also aggravated unnecessarily by the military high-ups, especially by the incompetent head of Disaster Management Authority, Major General Nadeem Ijaz who allegedly did so deliberatively. The responsibility of overseeing the task was then passed on to the first female Governor of Gilgit/Baltistan once she got appointed in place of Mr Kaira. The MQM, PPP, PML-Q and JUI, all have seats round the high table in Gilgit. So they are all culprits in the making of this crisis. Their tall claims and speeches are all bluff. They did nothing to highlight the issue and none of their representatives are even present at the site today. The government should investigate the issue. Because of this blunder, the Hazara and Shangla regions of Malakand have now become prone to flooding. The damage to bridges and other expensive infrastructure is also immense. -DR KHURRUM SHAUKAT YUSAFZAI, Peshawar, May 22.