Who Should Hear My Heart’s sigh!

I am breathless. I am breathless.
I am breathless. I am speechless.
I cannot breath nor can I speak because I am homeless.
I cannot shout nor can I laugh because I am homeless.
I am breathless. I am speechless.
I cannot play nor can I dance because I am friendless.
I cannot fight nor can I argue because I am friendless.
I am breathless. I am speechless
I cannot read nor can I write because I am penniless.
I cannot study nor can I learn because I am penniless.
I am breathless. I am speechless.
I lost my land, my home, my school, and my friends
I lost my career, my dreams, my goals, and everything
However, my memories have not gone.
I am breathless. I am speechless.
Alas! My big dreams are shattered. My future is unknown.
What should I do now?
I am breathless because I am hopeless.
I am speechless because I am hopeless.

By Aaliya, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan

I have written this small monologue because it really hurts when we imagine and put ourselves in someone’ position, who is passing through an adversity. I imagined myself for a while, and replaced myself with this innocent kid in the picture. I found myself in a barren desert, where I am craving for something, but no one is there to feel my longing and suffering.

Last summer of 2012, I took this picture, and the child in the image is one of the victims of Atta Abad land slide. I visited shelters, which are also located in Ali Abad. I met this child outside his shelter. I did not intend to take this image, but the moody face of this child attracted me. To bring smile on his face, I took picture, but still he did not smile. He just kept silent.

It is said that words are not just words, words have something to convey. I hope everyone will understand my ideas, which I have jotted down in this piece.

Earlier related: The Fable of My Life: Atta Abad Landslide Disaster

The Fable of My Life: Atta Abad Landslide Disaster

By Aaliya, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan

What comes into your mind when you look at this person, who seems quite and desperate? By looking at this image, I can imagine that this person could be a strong and a professional, who might be thinking about his future. However, this person is basically jobless because he is blind, deaf, and speech disabled.

In July 2012 I was doing a project along with my friends on Atta Abad accident. We basically wanted to measure the vulnerability of Atta Abad victims. After doing one survey of the shelter, accidentally I met this person outside his shelter. I was shocked when one of the residents of shelter, Gulam Musa, introduced him. By looking at his appearance, I could not believe that this person could be blind, deaf, and speech disabled because he does not look like such person.

Indeed, I cannot describe this person as unfortunate because there are many people across the globe who are more vulnerable. However, he is somewhat vulnerable because he has lost his land during Atta Abad landslide in 2010. On the other hand, he cannot do any job. His name is Ali Mohammad, and he is one the victims of Atta Abad landslide. He is married, and he has five children as well. Along with his family, he currently lives in shelter in Altit since landslide. Unfortunately this person has lost his property along with other villagers during the Atta Abad disaster.

Indeed, we all respect humanity, and we practice it every day in our lives. By considering humanity, if we collect even a single coin for the sake of this person and other land slide victims, we can somewhat lift up their lives and the future of their children.

Aaliya, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan - Asian University for Women

Related: Third anniversary of Attabad landslide disaster today

Attabad, the Pakistani mountain village that is now an island | guardian.co.uk

After a landslide created a dam, the village on the Karakoram Highway was cut off – and the rescue effort has been slow

via Attabad, the Pakistani mountain village that is now an island | World news | guardian.co.uk.

Hunza: The Birth of a New Lake

On 4 January 2010, a rockslide 1200 meters long, 350 meters wide, and 125 meters high dammed the Hunza River in Attabad, in the Hunza Valley of northern Pakistan, and formed Lake Gojal.

“In months, the plugged-up river would submerge eleven miles of the Karakoram Highway, turning a thriving region buzzing with trade from the Chinese border into scattered clumps of unconnected villages,” writes Natasha Vizcarra.

Click here to read at Simerg.com: http://simerg.com/about/hunzas-new-lake-the-story-behind-the-birth-of-lake-gojal/

Revisiting Attabad: A year on in Hunza, how far along the road to normalcy?

This summer has seen a cooling of US-Pakistan relations due to both the imminent withdrawal of allied forces from Afghanistan and the Taliban backlash witnessed across the region. In response, Beijing has assured Islamabad of its support for stability and development in the country. An interesting element of this reaffirmation involves the dilemma of the Attabad Lake, the area of the Hunza River that has been dammed since a series of massive landslides in Gilgit-Baltistan in January 2010 blocked the river and large sections of the highway went under water (see Himal June 2010, ‘An inevitable disaster’). In July, Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Masood Khan, stated at a bilateral business forum in Kashgar that ‘we have a grand vision for creating multiple, trade-transport-energy corridors between Pakistan and China so that this region can be connected to South, West and Central Asia. But first things first: We must drain the lake and realign the road.’

via Revisiting Attabad.

“We want our school back!” Attabad Students | Dawn.com

On a recent trip to the Hunza Valley, this scribe came across an interesting protest by young students in Ahmedabad town. With placards in their hands, scores of school children were chanting slogans as they passed through the streets of main Ahmedabad Bazaar. They were demanding the local authorities to shift the Attabad IDPs from their school. We want our school back, the youngsters maintained.

Formed after a massive landslide in January 2010, the Attabad Lake in Hunza Valley continues to cause hardship to the locals, particularly the displaced families.

Unperturbed by the presence of keenly watching tourists in the serene and peaceful Hunza Valley, the children registered their protest in front of the Ismaili Community Office and later lodged a formal complaint at the District Coordination Office, Hunza.

“We are studying in a tent school for well over a year now. The local authorities have yet to shift the Attabad Lake affectees from the premises,” said Ambreen. A student of class 7 at the Diamond Jubilee School in Altit, she informed that other schools in the area faced a similar situation.

“Most schools in Altit are being used as shelter. But we students end up suffering too. We have to drink muddy water and study in tents that are really dirty,” she complained innocently.

“Many youngsters don’t want to go to the tent school as the teachers are not there. Then there is the sunlight and heat. Its makes us ill and at times many children have suffered a heat stroke,” she added.

via “We want our school back!” | | DAWN.COM.
All related: http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/tag/floods/
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/tag/attabad/

Attabad landslide lake: One year on, the threat is still looming – The Express Tribune

Thousands living up and down the 23-kilometre-long lake are still under threat from the lake that was created by the landslide.

Many people in Gilgit-Baltistan believe that the Attabad Lake disaster is the biggest-ever calamity to have hit the region.

“It is such a big disaster that even the region’s history is silent about it [in shock],” says Farman Karim, who lost four of his family members in the disaster. [...]

Ali Panah, a volunteer with the FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance group, said that about 120 families were still living in the Altit Camp in Hunza while nearly 50 had either taken refuge with their relatives in Gilgit or were living in rented houses in Hunza and Gilgit. “The biggest problem faced by them is lack of heating in such harsh winter,” Panah said. “None of the fuel provided by the Chinese government has been given to these Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).”

By way of compensation, the federal government provided Rs500,000 to those who died in the disaster.

via Attabad landslide lake: One year on, the threat is still looming – The Express Tribune.

Imminent disaster: Mountain slip threatens Thoi – The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD: People in a far-flung valley of the western impoverished Ghizer District are living under constant fear of disaster as a mountain at a village has started slipping down, posing Attabad-like danger to the inhabitants.

According to reports, the mountain had developed cracks and started moving down posing danger to 7,000 people of the Thoi Valley in Yasin Tehsil [...]

Locals said frequent landslides have been witnessed in the valley during the past three weeks that have destroyed many houses. In response, Focus Humanitarian Assistance, a non-governmental organisation working under the Aga Khan Development Network, has started shifting the residents of the valley to safer areas.

More at the source: http://tribune.com.pk.

Shaista, The victim of Attabad Disaster

Gulmit & Shishkat Resurfacing

Trapped by Flooding Disaster in Remote Valley That Pakistan Forgot: Travel – Bloomberg

Three friends and I went on vacation to Pakistan on the spur of the moment and walked into a disaster zone.

We weren’t being reckless; we had no idea what was to come as we made the easy journey along China’s famed Karakoram Highway and across the border into Pakistan’s remote Hunza Valley.

Isolated by flooding on arrival, we had no idea that the rest of Pakistan was drowning under the worst monsoons in memory. In the next valley over, and all the way down the Indus River, millions of acres were flooded, destroying the homes and livelihoods of 17.2 million people and killing more than 1,700, the government said.

–snip–

Besides the spillway work and some Chinese work crews and earthmovers, the government was nearly invisible between Attabad and the border. Schools, public-assistance foundations, vans, and even lifejackets on the boats bore the logo of the Aga Khan Foundation

More: Trapped by Flooding Disaster in Remote Valley That Pakistan Forgot: Travel – Bloomberg.

IRIN Asia | PAKISTAN: Hunza flood-displaced hope for early return

GILGIT, 18 July 2010 (IRIN) – Receding water levels on the lake formed in the Hunza River by a landslide in January this year have raised hopes among the 20,000 or so people displaced by the disaster that they may soon be able to return to their villages.

Activists with Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS), an international group of agencies affiliated with the Aga Khan Development Network, said that water in the lake and in flooded upstream villages was receding by a few inches a day. They said it was too early to predict when internally displaced persons (IDPs) could return.

More: http://www.irinnews.org.

Salgirah in the times of disaster (via PAMIR TIMES)

PT Report Hunza: Thousands of people in the disaster hit Hunza Valley joined their Ismaili brothers and sisters across the globe in celebrating the 53rd Imamat Day on July 11, a ceremony symbolizing H.H. The Aga Khan’s accession to the throne of Imamat. Grand celebrations were held in Shishkat and Gulmit, two of the worst affected villages of Gojal valley. IDPs of Attabad celebrated Imamat Day at the remaining part of Attabad village. The IDPs ha … Read More

via PAMIR TIMES

Daily Times – Attaabad victims await rehabilitation, assistance

By Shoaib Sultan Khan

Having spent 12 years in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral while implementing the Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), I have developed empathy with the people of the area. My heart went out to the people of Attaabad, when I read on the Internet about the catastrophe that had struck them. On returning to Pakistan, I was yearning to commiserate with the people of Attaabad. I soon found out that the landslide and flooding had not only affected Attaabad, but also Sarrat, Ayeenabad-Shishkat, Gulmit, Lower Ghulkin, Hussaini and even Passu, encompassing 381 houses, including 147 of Attaabad and Sarrat. In fact, all the 19 deaths reported occurred in Attaabad Payeen.

Around 1,000 households, 10,000 individuals are affected. Indirectly, the submerging of KKH has broken the link between Upper and Central Hunza. Trade with China has halted, affecting employment of 6,000 individuals. Seven schools, 130 hotels, shops and businesses and three community centers are all inundated.

More: Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan – Attaabad victims await rehabilitation, assistance.

Supplication for Attabad

Pakistan’s Hunza Valley: Another Paradise Lost? | Newsline

By Hermann Kreutzmann

The new year in the Hunza valley began with a catastrophe. On January 4, a crack in the sloped terrain of Attaabad in the Upper Hunza valley widened and gravity took its toll: houses in the village collapsed. A major landslide caused a wave of dust and gravel; subsequently, material from the moraine blocked and dammed the Hunza valley. Four months later, the villagers in the northwest of Karakoram still live in a state of uncertainty.

Attaabad is one of the younger villages in Hunza, inhabited by people from the central oasis five generations ago. The exposed location made irrigated agriculture difficult, favoured orchards and allowed easy access to the high pastures. – More -

via http://www.newslinemagazine.com/

Author holds the Chair of Human Geography at the Center for Development Studies in the Institute of Geography, Freie Universitat Berlin.

Hunza Landslide Relief Support Map

With downloadable GIS data.

http://www.local.com.pk/hunza/

The story of above mentioned initiative and the partners involved, can be found here:
http://propakistani.pk/2010/05/24/ata-abad-lake-on-google-maps-input-requested-from-contributors/

Courtesy: Ali Rehmat Musofer

Landslide lake in Pakistan – Boston.com The Big Picture

This was posted few days back. Many of the photographs are exclusively from Pamirtimes.net. As we all know, Bostom.com’s Big Picture is a very influential photo-news website.

Five months ago, on January 4th, 2010 in the remote Hunza River Valley of northern Pakistan, a massive landslide buried the village of Attabad, destroying 26 homes, killing 20 people, and damming up the Hunza River. As the newly-formed lake grew, authorities rushed to evacuate and supply those affected in the landslide area and upstream. The lake is now over 300 feet deep and 16km (10 mi) long, submerging miles of highway, farms and homes. Earlier this week, the lake reached the top of the natural dam, and began to spill out – rapid erosion of the landslide debris has authorities worried about a potential breach, and locals have been evacuated as officials monitor the developing situation. Special thanks to the Pamir Times for sharing their photos and coverage of this event. (38 photos total)

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/landslide_lake_in_pakistan.html

Massive landslide ‘did not occur overnight’ | The News

A critical situation confronting people in Hunza-Nagar and Gilgit after blockage of Hunza River and formation of an artificial dam due to massive landslide never emerged overnight, as research reports and analysis carried out in the recent years gave clear indications about potential threats, thanks to unusual ecological developments in the area.

Richard Hughes, Consultant Aga Khan Cultural Services, in his research report compiled in 2003 first raised the issue of cracks in the mountains of Attaabad and suggested various steps to avoid any untoward situation.

Unfortunately, the concerned authorities paid no heed to his suggestions and avoided taking necessary steps that might have helped in rectify the situation to some extent. Now the catastrophic situation has emerged and focus is to deal with it in a manner that can help avoid losses to life and property of the people who may have no role in degradation of ecological settings in the area.

More: Massive landslide ‘did not occur overnight’.

Front page story on The News: Hunza Lake water outflow exceeds 3,000 cusecs

NASA: Landslide Lake in Northwest Pakistan

A lake created by a landslide in northwest Pakistan continued growing throughout the month of May 2010. The lake extended northward up the Hunza River, past the settlements of Gulmit and Shishkot. Meanwhile, the risk of a breach continued growing, according to geologist David Petley of the International Landslide Centre in the United Kingdom.

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on the Terra satellite acquired this false-color image of the landslide lake on June 1, 2010. Water appears in varying shades of blue. Vegetation is red. Bare rock appears in shades of brown and gray.

More: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=44144
Courtesy: Ali Rehmat Musofer – http://gulbtur.wordpress.com/