Gulmit village is tehsil headquarter of Gojal valley, Gulmit
village used to be 2nd capital of Hunza state, situated in the upper
Hunza region of the Gilgit-Bapsltistan.
Gulmit is positioned at an altitude of 7900 feet;
hosting two main glaciers, known as Shetubar glacier and Gulmit glacier on the
western and north-western sphere. The village caters around 500 households in
the most fragile region of Karakorum mountain range.
There have been number of GLOF events occurred on
Gulmit glaciers due to rapid climate change in previous years. Currently these
glaciers are showing negative trend of recession under the influence of climate
change. Global warming has adversely affected climate in the high mountain
range, which has increased number and frequency of glacial lake formation and
its outburst on Gulmit glaciers.
Sadly, neither government nor private sector paid much
attention to conduct a full-length study on Gulmit glaciers to reduce risk
factor in the area.
Gulmit Glacier
Gulmit glacier is situated on north-west side of
Gulmit village, which is draining its melt into Hunza River in the east. Length
of the glacier is not known, nor there is any recorded data regarding ice
thickness neither any idea about its ice reserve. Generally Gulmit glacier is enclosed between
steep high moraine at one side and rocky mountain at another side. The ice is
covered with black debris and large quantities of moraine.
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| Aerial view of Gulmit Glacier |
There is no evidence of glacial lake formation on the
surface of Gulmit glacier but it is believed that there are glacial lakes
covered under huge ice sheets. Generally lakes are created by surface melting especially
during summer months, and rainfall seasons. Melted water runs down into
crevasse this causes large scale melted water production. Frequently these melted
water exit which are sometime enormous and causes great damage to population
and landscape.
According to locals of Gulmit village in summer 1972 a
massive glacial lake outburst flood occurred on Gulmit glacier, which
threatened local population but local volunteers of the area helped the
community to evacuate. In summer 2013
again the outburst occurred which was enormous, luckily the watercourse was
wide enough, which accommodated the massive release of water into Hunza
River. This flood left behind huge
amount of debris which has filled the stream.
In past years local community have worked together
along with UNICEF on the site to secure the whole village from flood effects,
now there is hardly evidences left of such initiatives.
In recent year locals of Gulmit village approached
FOUCS Humanitarian Assistance Pakistan, to construct a retaining cum safety
wall alongside the watercourse at Kamaris area. For now the construction work
of retaining wall is underway, local community is playing their part in
construction of protection wall. This wall will be a great help to reduce risk
factor of GLOF in days ahead.
Shetubar Glacier
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| Aerial Shetubar Glacier |
Shetubar glacier is situated on western side of Gulmit
village, hulking down over the village. This glacier is surrounded by Hard Rock
Mountains, releases its melt down into Hunza River. This beautiful glacier is
packed with white snow not like Gulmit glacier which is burned under dark black
debris.
Glacial lake outburst flood occurs almost every year,
here again the watercourse is wide and deep enough which does less damage to
crops, plants and land. The flood moves huge amount of debris from the high
mountains to lower streams and if it blocks the stream for a shorter while it
becomes pretty dangerous.
Sadly there is no official record of GLOF events, its
frequency and damage ratio, conducting full-length study and keep an eye on
glacial comportment will help to reduce GLOF risk.
Karakorum Highway (KKH) a major threat
No doubt Karakorum highway is a life line between
Pakistan and China; it’s a major trade route which connects the economic giant
China with rest of the world via Arabian Sea. KKH is the only route for
commuters of Gojal valley to travel to southern part of Pakistan.
Apart from every good thing the well-known trade route
is considered to be a major cause of environmental degradation in the region.
In recent years Chinese Road and Bridge Constructions (CRBC- A Chinese Construction Company blacklisted in Turkey and
Malaysia), started KKH expansion work. Till now CRBC has brutally violated the
environment safety measures in the fragile region. Thousands of trees have been
removed but there is no alternate plan for plantation.
The increasing number of traffic on KKH will double in
near future; there is no set rule for fitness test of vehicles running in the
area. These unnoticeable threats are doing great damage to delicate glaciers in
the Gulmit and these actors are one of the reasons of GLOF in the region.
Post disaster scenario-rehabilitation of effected land of Gulmit
It’s pertinent to note that the
famous Attbabad disaster has done great damage to cultivable lands, plants,
buildings and business infrastructure. Many initiatives have been carried out
to rehabilitate IDP’s (internal displaced persons) of the area, sadly no one
paid attention to rehabilitate the damaged land of the area. These barren lands
have been creating issues especially in harsh windy days, as the area is filled
with sands and clay.
It’s high
time to rehabilitate these damaged part of Gulmit village; plantation and
related activities will help to preserve beauty and nature of the area.
Eco-tourism and Gulmit village
The tourists
visiting Gulmit village is to a large extent are the lovers of natural sites.
Sadly these heritage sites received low attention in every state of affairs.
Pristine sites have been facing great threat from general tourists as they
leave behind solid waste in major tourist destinations. Garbage and human waste
left by mountaineering and trekking expeditions has become a serious issue
especially on the more popular routes.
Guides and
porters are lacking professional training and education to promote eco-tourism
phenomena in the area, their involvement in collection of solid waste, and
garbage on the high altitude mountain range could have been a help to reduce
the risk factor in the most fragile highlands.
Land use and
zoning is another important issue which the valley direly needs, general
tourists are free to go wherever they want to go. Such scenario creates
problems for locals living in the area and does great damage to the
destinations especially to its natural asset.
To take off
pressure from some of the highly visited area, the lesser-known tourist
destinations needs proper promotion.
Alternate energy source
The locals
rely on wood for cooking and heating, especially in the winter the locals cut
big trees at massive scale for heating, as the winter season is pretty harsher.
There is no alternate energy source to use in the kitchen or for heating.
This act is
adversely affecting the cycle of fragile nature of highlands, which also
increases the risk of glacial lake flood outburst GLOF. The number of trees has
been reducing radically; the greenbelt area has been reduced severely with
rapid increase in construction of buildings.
To protect
these fragile natural assets, the local government and other stakeholders must
come up with some practical solution by providing alternate energy source in
the village and other part of Gojal valley. This will help to reduce the risk
factor of GLOF and natural disasters.
Way Forward
1.
There is a dire need to
conduct full-length study on Gulmit glacier and Shetubar glacier to assess risk
factor.
2.
Defining standardized
methodology for data collection
3. Defining actors and factors
adversely affecting environment and adapting result oriented strategies
4.
Defining,
educating and implementing eco-tourism phenomena practically.
5.
Reducing the
risk factor on KKH, considering the need and increasing number of traffic
6.
Reducing
environmental damages during KKH expansion and bounding the CRBC to contribute
through corporate social responsibility (CSR).
7.
Capacity
building of various institutions in Gulmit village to educate people of the
area.
8. Improving socio-economic condition of people living in
Gulmit village.
One can read the published post HERE
