By Syed Irfan Ashraf
“Many youngsters don’t want to go to the tent school as the teachers are not there,” said Ambreen. – Photo by Arif Shah/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.
The lake has affected thousands of
people, many of whom had to relocate to other areas in Hunza Valley
since their villages were submerged.
A May 2010 view of the lake. – Photo courtesy of Paki Mag
“The government must understand that this
is not a small tragedy. All victims are not lucky to have relatives in
other parts of the valley. Many of those housed in schools and makeshift
shelters continue to live in a miserable state,” said Ikram Ali. He
said that the absence of doctors in the affected area is also causing
problems. “Neither can we leave our patients untreated nor can we afford
to take them to hospitals in Lower Hunza,” said Ikram.
In the initial days of the crisis, ample media coverage hyped up the
issue. As a result, the politicians and state officials were left with
no other option but to rush to the scene. During their visits to Hunza,
the prime minister and the army chief promised the area people that
their concerns would be addressed on a priority basis. This gave some
hope to the IDPs, who thought that they would be able to rebuild their
lives.
However, once the media coverage subsided, official lethargy followed.
“Personally, I am not satisfied with the
way things are going on,” said an official assigned with the task of the
rehabilitation of Attabad IDPs. “We had pledged that the IDPs would be
rehabilitated by May 2011, however, there is a remote possibility of it
even now,” he added, requesting anonymity.
As a result of delay, hopes of the IDPs have thinned down slowly and gradually.
Food insecurity is another issue that is faced by the residents in Gojal regardless of them being displaced or not.
Soaring prices of commodities have made it difficult for the residents to buy even groceries.
“The prices of vegetables have increased a
lot. Tomatoes which we bought earlier for Rs. 60 per kilogramme now
cost us Rs200,” said Shahid Hunzai. In many places, a three-fold
increase has been taken place in the prices of commodities, which has
left people with no option but to shift to other areas.
Since the lake water is spread over an
area of 32 kilometers, it has disconnected upper Hunza from central and
lower parts of the valley. Locals have to use small boats to ferry
around, which is not only costly but also risky.
“Earlier we used to pay Rs. 100 to travel
from central Hunza to the upper parts of the valley, but now we cover
the same distance by paying Rs. 1000,” said Shahid Hunzai. Growing
inflation and dwindling local economy has fast turned the hopes of
people into despair. “We cannot wait anymore,” said Aziz Jan, an IDP.
“If the government was unable to settle the issue in time, it should
have asked the Chinese government for help rather than sitting on the
issue for so long,” he said curtly. (Dawn)
http://gbtimes.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/we-want-our-school-back-students-affected-by-attabad-hunza-disaster/
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