‘Hunza landslide lake carries potential of damaging Tarbela’

* PYF-GB water has reached 350ft, banks will burst once water reaches 400ft 

Daily Times - LAHORE: Water in the landslide lake in Hunza has reached a dangerous level and its bank can burst within the next couple of months, with the possibility of inundating several villages and threatening the Tarbela Dam, Progressive Youth Front Gilgit-Baltistan (PYF-GB) chief organiser Baba Jan told Daily Times on Monday.

The lake was created following a massive landslide on January 4 close to Atta Abad village, with a 450 feet-high mud-and-stone wall blocking the flow of the Hunza River.

The PYF-GB chief organiser and Boloristan National Students Organisation (BNSO) spokesman Tehseen Ali said the water level in the lake was rising by two to three feet daily and the water level in the lake had already reached 350 feet.

They said the lake was now at least 15 kilometres long and one-and-a-half kilometre wide, stretching from Hussaini village to Atta Abad.

Jan said geologists had warned that the lake could burst anytime once the water level rose to 400 feet. 

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He said the landslide had already damaged the biggest bridge on the Karakoram Highway and the lake’s spilling endangers another 27 bridges.

Locals say that three power stations close to the Hunza River can also be washed away by the lake’s bursting and the spill could also damage the Tarbela Dam. The BNSO spokesman said five villages, Ainabad, Shushkut, Gilmat, Atta Abad, Phasoo and Hussaini, have already been flooded and another three villages were in danger of being inundated by the artificial lake.

He said around 1,000 houses and 10,000 residents had already been affected and another half a million people could be affected once the lake spilled.

Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani took notice of the development on Monday, directing the minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan to personally oversee the relief activities in the area.