POGB: Administration negligence in Gilgit-Shander expressway project impacts residents

A multifaced problem now encompasses the people of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan’s (PoGB) Gilgit city, due to the negligence on the part of the administration and the construction contractors of the Gilgit-Shander Expressway project surrounded by a valley in the area.

According to the PoGB news organization, the Pamir Times report, the Gilgit-Shander Expressway project caused a matter of survival for locals living near the project.

During the time of the construction of the questioned Expressway, construction contractors had blasted a small piece of the valley to design the so-called highway.

However, the construction that was supposed to finish years ago has still not been completed and has been downsized drastically by the administration resulting in the reduced speed of recovery from the shoddy construction work.

Notably, several patches of rich agricultural lands can now be noticed submerging in the fast-flowing water of the Ghizer River affecting the lives, livelihoods and safer travel between cities of PoGB.

Additionally, these submerged patches of land are becoming a centre for contaminated water diseases for the PoGB local areas. Additionally, landslides of different scales are now about to break and flow into the river bed against shifting the previously set flow of the river Ghizer Pamir Times report claimed.

Yadgar Mohallah in the Skardu City of PoGB is another locality that has been suffering from the ill effects of less crisis of water for households.

The locals belonging to this area on Sunday blocked several main roads of the city to raise their voices for regular water supply in the area.

According to a local participating in the protest ” Our area has not got an official water supply line since 2007 and now we are forced to protest, as no one seems to care for our peaceful protests.”