APROPOS the letter ‘Elections and GB’ (July 26). Thank you, Jahanzaib Mengal, for raising your voice for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. Yes, nearly 2.2 million people of Gilgit Baltistan were watching the electoral process from a distance. It is heart-wrenching that we shed blood for Pakistan, but cannot vote or become a member of parliament.

Gilgit-Baltistan, which my ancestors freed after a bloody year-long war, has been declared ‘disputed’ by the policymakers of Pakistan. GB is part of the disputed territories that desperately need to be mainstreamed; the question is when?

Can we expect Imran Khan’s government to give a proper constitutional status to Gilgit-Baltistan so that its people would be able to vote in the next elections? Or will there be another order like the ones in 2009 and 2018 which gave Gilgit-Baltistan a province-like status, but did not give the people the right to vote?

Ghazalah Ali

Ghizer, GB

(2)

GILGIT-BALTISTAN has almost 3,000 glaciers which are fed by snowfall and avalanches in winter, and melt in summer to supply water to the Indus River and its tributaries. The glaciers are now posing a threat to the local residents as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) are occurring frequently due to global warming and climate change.

Recently a violent GLOF occurred in the remote village of Barswat Ishkoman located near the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan. It has blocked Ishkoman River, submerging more than 40 homes; damaged crops spread over hundreds of acres; killed cattle and sunk dozens of vehicles.

The residents living upstream have been stranded and are facing food, shelter and medicine shortages.

Rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations are under way by the local government, Pakistan Army, AKDN agencies, NGOs and volunteers of the local areas. Owing to the GLOF blockade of the river, inhabitants living downstream, particularly near the river beds, are also troubled because of land erosion and they are asked to stay away from the rivers to avoid causalities.

After two days there were yet more devastating floods in the region due to heavy monsoon that hampered rescue operations and damaged crops, orchards and cultivable land. Earlier, the region had been experiencing drought-like situation for the last two years, particularly in winter with minimal snowfall.

Survey findings suggest that most of the glaciers in the region are continuously in recession and if such extreme weather continues, then most of the glaciers would be wiped out, leaving the whole country water-stressed. All such disastrous events are the direct consequences of global warming and climate change.

The way forward is to abide by the international agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The authorities should monitor glaciers, construct water reservoirs downstream, create awareness amongst communities living in vulnerable areas and prepare them to cope with natural disasters.

Karim Muhammad Khan

Ghizer District, GB

(3)

RECENT floods have paralysed almost every district of Gilgit-Baltistan by submerging scores of houses, crops, bridges and roads. The artificial lake formed by the melting glaciers in Batsuwat, Ishkoman caused a catastrophe submerging houses, agriculture land, crops and cattle.

Almost every year the people of Gilgit-Baltistan face such catastrophes. But the Natural Disaster Management Authorities have never been vigilant or prepared for emergencies. Both central and Gilgit-Baltistan governments must ensure that well-prepared and well-equipped teams are available during such disasters to rescue and rehabilitate the afflicted people swiftly.

Zahid Ali Zohri

Nagar, GB

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2018