Water begins flowing from Pakistani lake as glacial outburst flood looms
By Manzar Shigri; additional reporting/writing by Kamran Haider; editing by Chris Allbritton and Bill Tarrant
KARIMABAD
Sat May 29, 2010 4:15am EDTKARIMABAD Pakistan (Reuters) – Water began seeping out from a lake formed by a landslide in north Pakistan into a spillway Saturday, officials said, who added that the next one or two days are critical to avoid catastrophic flooding. If the spillway doesn’t contain the water and the landslide dam bursts, authorities fear the heavy flooding could wash away many villages, bridges and roads, affecting up to 50,000 people. “At this point, the water flow is very smooth but it’s eroding the spillway, widening it,” Gilgit-Baltistan’s Commissioner, Asif Bilal Lohdi, told Reuters by telephone. “Let’s see how the water behaves in the next four to five hours, then the situation will be clear. We are on high alert,” he said. Officials are hoping for a gradual erosion of the blockage, but they have not ruled out a major breach due to rising water levels from melting glaciers. The landslide in early January blocked the Hunza River and created a huge lake near Attaabad village. Twenty people were killed and another 25,000 were left stranded upstream, and now struggle to remain linked to the main town of Gilgit. The Pakistan military created a spillway to drain the 19 km (12 miles) long and 360-feet deep lake. Lohdi said a major breach in the dam was possible. “It could burst and cause flash flooding, which will ultimately wash away 34 villages and a part of the Karakorum Highway (KKH),” he said referring to the main road to China. Nearly 30,0000 villagers have already been relocated to 24 camps. Head of the military’s relief organization, Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed, said the erosion of the spillway and blockade would be faster in the next one or two days. “These days are very crucial,” he said. …
