GILGIT, Pakistan - Authorities in northern Pakistan are struggling to prevent the bursting of a natural dam formed by a landslide that could affect more than 50,000 people and sever an important trade link with China.
The landslide, in early January, killed 14 people and blocked the Hunza River, creating a huge lake that inundated several villages and left about 25,000 people stranded.
Residents says the government has not done enough to get supplies and contain the threat of a breach.
"We know it's a natural disaster, but we are not satisfied with the government's belated efforts," said Mirza Hussain, a lawmaker in the district assembly.
Officials are scrambling to ease pressure on the dam by creating a spillway, and say they do not see any immediate threat of a breach. But residents say the situation is extremely precarious.
"The water level is rising every day, adding to the pressure which could lead to a breach in the lake," Hussain said.
People like Amin Khan, a resident of Aina Abad, a village where people now almost cut off above the new lake, fault the government for the slow trickle of relief supplies -- many of which now have to be airlifted.
"I have lost my house and land due to this lake, but we are not getting sufficient relief. Its really pathetic," said the 32-year-old Khan, who runs a computer shop 28 km away from his residence in a commercial neighbourhood.
"WATER RISING"
Every passing day adds more than a foot to the 226-ft .
The lake has also blocked a 1.3 km stretch of the Karakoram Highway , a road linking Pakistan and China through the Himalayas and a trade route for a significant portion of Pakistan's consumer goods.
Hussain, who is also a member of a regional commerce body, said because of the KKH blockage, nearly 300 trucks loaded with Chinese goods were stuck at a dry port upstream, with still more goods in 60 warehouses.
A senior official at the NDMA, that was formed after a October 2005 earthquake that killed 73,000 people in the country's northwest, said all precautionary measures had been taken to prevent any human loss.
"Possibilities of an outburst exist, but the chances are very remote and we are prepared for the worst," said Col. Amir Siddique.
Work is under way to remove debris and create a spillway, due for completion by mid-April, that would provide a channel into the riverbed for a controlled outflow of lake water.
But an official involved in the rehabilitation efforts, who declined to be identified, said there would still be a danger of flash floods, as the chance of a breach exists until the pressure on the blockage is reduced.
"In the worst case scenario, if the lake bursts the water will damage or destroy all bridges in the area and will damage the KKH," the official said.
He said the wave, which could be as high as 50 metres at its start, would affect nearly 11,000 people in districts of Gilgit-Biltastan and another 40,000 to 50,000 people downstream.
