Attabad Lake

Attabad Lake

Introduction:

   Attabad Lake, Hunza Valley, also known as Attabad Lake, is a lake in Ganish (Central

Attabad Lake

Hunza Valley of northern Pakistan) formed in January 2010 by a landslide dam. The lake was formed due to a huge landslide at Attabad village in Gilgit-Baltistan, 9 miles (14 km) east of Karimabad that occurred on 4 January 2010. The landslide killed twenty people and blocked the flow of the Hunza River for five months. The lake flooding displaced 6,000 people from upstream villages stranded a more 25,000 and snowed under over 12 miles (19 km) of the Karakoram Highway. The lake reached 13 miles (21 km) long and over 100 meters (330 ft) in deepness by the first week of June 2010 when it began flowing over the landslide dam, completely go under water lower Shishkat and partly flooding Gulmit. The subdivision of Gojal has the greatest number of flooded buildings, over 170 houses, and 120 shops. The people also had shortages of food and other items due to the blockage of the Karakoram Highway. Gilgit-Baltistan 36°20′12.62″N 74°52′3.12″E

Result of landslide:

Attabad Lake

Sufferers of the landslide and growth of the lake staged a sit-in protesting the lack of government action and return payments to them. As a result of the damming of Hunza River, five villages north of the blockade were flooded. One village, Ayeenabad, was completely underwater. Major portions of another village, Shishkat, were also underwater. Around 40% of the village of Gulmit, which also serves as the headquarters of Gojal Valley, was also underwater. Important portions of land in Hussain and Ghulkin villages of Gojal also got underwater as a result of the surging lake.

Affected:

The whole population of Hunza and Gojal valley, up to 25000 individuals, were affected as a result of the lake, due to difficulties of road entrance and reaching business markets and loss of land, houses, and agricultural products.