Predicted floods could exacerbate food security

ISLAMABAD: Nadir Shah, 35, from the Chitral mountain valley in northern Pakistan, about 390km northwest of Islamabad, is uncertain what to do.

Fingering the battered pay-phone card he keeps in his wallet - enabling him to call his family about once a week - Shah, who works as a domestic help, explains: "I have heard there have been flash floods. A bridge was washed away. I am wondering if I need to go back and make sure my family is safe."

According to reports, Sore Rech village, some 160km north of Chitral, the valley's main town, was cut off from the rest of the district for three days in mid-June as a suspension bridge over the River Torkhow was washed away by floods.

Nadir's family was not among those affected, but he fears further flash floods, common in mountain areas when hill torrents are triggered by heavy rain.

More severe monsoon?
Weather forecasts have been warning of a more severe monsoon this year. Uncharacteristically for mid-June, rain has already begun to fall in northern parts of the country.

"The monsoon rains this year are likely to be 25-30 percent heavier than normal in northern areas," Hazrat Mir, chief meteorologist at the Met Office in Lahore, told IRIN. He warned that major rivers could flood and that there could be flash floods in smaller waterways, which often cause the worst damage.

The monsoon rains normally cause transport problems, with water-logged roads and unstable bridges. This is especially true in northern areas, where communities are dependent on supplies sent in by truck.



Monsoon rains normally cause transport problems, with water-logged roads and unstable bridges
Food

Swelling rivers mean narrow, but vital, suspension bridges can become unsafe, and the early monsoon this year has reduced the time in which to stock up on food.

"The monsoon creates problems in bringing up essentials like 'atta' [flour] to areas such as Chitral. When there are shortages, prices soar. Everything is already more expensive than last year and I fear food prices may rise further," said Nadir Shah.

Food price inflation has been running at 15-20 percent over the past year in northern Pakistan.

"If this continues, we are in for a very tough time," says Aslam Baba, about 75, who has lived his entire life in Shahdra, a suburb on the outskirts of Lahore, capital of the Punjab. The poor locality, where many houses are made from unbaked bricks and are thus vulnerable to damage by rain or storms, lies alongside the River Ravi. Flooding is a regular feature during the monsoon which most often arrives in mid-July, with families frequently displaced and homes damaged.

"Last year was not that bad, but I can remember years when cattle were washed away and houses came tumbling down," said Aslam.



In Balochistan, the situation of cyclone survivors is grim, with many still living in temporary shelters and drinking contaminated water
Flood warnings

Things have now improved somewhat. There are better flood warning and disease prevention systems in place. "We have an elaborate system of radars and sensors to collect weather data," the Met Office’s Mir said. However, disaster control systems, which depend on government action, on the whole, remain inadequate.

There was an example of this in Thatta District, Sindh Province, about 100km east of Karachi, last week. Tidal waves, apparently triggered by monsoon weather, inundated 40 coastal villages. Local people complain no early warnings were given and they had no time to secure belongings or take other action.

Cyclone aftermath
People who live along the Sindh coastal belt have good reason to be concerned. In June 2007 Thatta was among the areas hit by Cyclone Yemyin, which affected 2.5 million people and left 350,000 displaced.

Many of the victims are still struggling to rebuild their lives. "I lost my fishing boat at sea and my home was damaged. I have struggled to rebuild it but have received very little help," said Ghulam Din, 30, from a village near Thatta.

In Balochistan, the situation of cyclone survivors is grimmer. In areas such as Jhal Magsi, 170km southwest of the provincial capital, Quetta, about 140,000 were displaced after the cyclone. Although no official estimates are available, Farid Khan, provincial coordinator for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said: "Thousands still do not have proper houses while water supplies have also been contaminated by the flooding that followed the cyclone." --IRIN

Name NAs as Gilgit-Baltistan

SKARDU: Speakers at a public rally here demanded restoration
of the region's historical name, Gilgit-Baltistan, instead
of calling it `Northern Areas'.
They also sought formation of an independent constituent
assembly to draft a constitution for the region in accordance
with the aspirations of the people.
The speakers asked the world community to take notice of what
they called human rights violations in Gilgit-Baltistan.
The public meeting was organised by the Gilgit-Baltistan
United Movement at Yadgar-i-Shuhada Chowk.
The representatives of the component parties of the Gilgit-
Baltistan Democratic Alliance (GBDA) appealed to the United
Nations, European Union as well as the world community to
focus their attention on Gilgit-Baltistan to help the
people in achieving their basic human rights.
The region's historical name, Gilgit Baltistan, should be
restored and the so-called `Northern Areas' should be done
away with, the speakers demanded.
All the routes especially the historical route between
Kargil and Skardu should be opened so that the divided families
can meet each other.
All land given to non-local people in Gilgit-Baltistan in
violation of the State Subject Rule should be retrieved and
the SSR should be enforced in the area, they added.
The speakers said as per suggestion of President Pervez
Musharraf, India should withdraw its forces from Kargil and
Laddakh and at the same time Pakistan should pull out of
Gilgit-Baltistan.
They demanded withdrawal of all non-local military and
civilian officials posted in civilian organisations of
Gilgit-Baltistan and appointment of locals in their place.
They warned the officials of sensitive agencies against
meddling in public affairs and harassment of political
workers and violation of human rights.
They also demanded handing over of the control of Special
Communication Organisation (SCO) and Frontier Work Organisation
(FWO) to local civilians and induction of local youth in
these organisations.
The meeting called for withdrawal of `fake' cases against
political workers and leaders of Gilgit-Baltistan, lifting of
the ban on monthly Kargil International magazine and ensuring
freedom of expression and security to the local journalists.
Through another resolution, they demanded setting up of
engineering, medical and IT universities in Skardu, Chilas,
Hunza and Gahkuch.
They also asked the government to stop projects like
Diamer-Basha dam, Bunji dam and Satpara dam in Skardu,
and reinstatement of workers sacked by a private company
in Sadpara dam.

Islamabad-Chitral flights in limbo

Chitratoday.com
THE Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Rawalpindi on Monday
cancelled its scheduled resumption of flights to Chitral citing
operation problems and asked the intending passengers to
contact its Peshawar office for tickets.
Those waiting the relaunch of the flights for the last many days
criticised the PIA for failing to fulfil its promise at the eleventh
hour.
IT seems that the PIA administration has taken its Islamabad-
Chitral flights for granted, as even most of the officials at the
national flag carrier's office in Rawalpindi were not aware of the
flight resumption in the first place.
On Saturday, the officials at the PIA office had issued unconfirmed
tickets for Chitral for Monday and asked the passengers to get
them confirmed on Sunday. But on Sunday they said as the
flight from Peshawar could not be operated, therefore flights
from Islamabad would be relaunched from Tuesday. When the
ticket seekers again went to the office on Monday morning, they
were asked either to get their money refunded or proceed to
Peshawar as PIA was unable to start the flights from Islamabad
due to operational problems.
The frustrated passengers including women and children criticised
the management of the PIA and called upon their elected
representatives to take up the issue in parliament and other forums
and direct the PIA to stop playing joke with the people of Chitral.

Sufism can bring peace to tribal areas

PESHAWAR: NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Bilour Saturday said sincere efforts of the Sufi saints spread Islam in the sub-continent hence they could play a pivotal role in bringing normalcy to the militancy-hit Pakhtun region.

“How regrettable is this that suicide bombings and beheadings are being carried out in the name of Islam,” he said.

Bilour was addressing the launching ceremony of the biography of Pir Sahib Timberpura Shareef, Syed Mustan Shah also known as ‘Haq Baba, authored by a renowned journalist Salahuddin Ahmad. He said some hidden forces were trying to weaken Pakhtuns by misinterpreting religion and deceiving the simple people.

Bilour added that dictators were responsible for plunging the country into crises, saying that a military adventurer turned Afghan war into holy ‘jihad’ although it was a proxy war of the US-led capitalist bloc.

“The law & order situation has deteriorated to the extent that we feel ourselves insecure even sitting here in the press club,” he said. “By preaching the message of love and peace, which the Sufis used to win the hearts of the non-Muslim Indians, can control this menace,” he added.

On the occasion, prominent Shia scholar Allama Fakhrul Hasan Kararvi said Islam teaches mutual respect to the extent that it extend due deference not only to all sacred religions but it pays reverence to the whole humanity. Paying tribute to Syed Mustan Shah, lovingly called Haq Baba, he said that he never talked about any sect but always emphasised on the respect of humanity.

Another religious scholar Prof Dr Abdul Ghafoor said that Sufi purifies the inner self and the person having achieved this target would never harm his Muslim brethren.

Speaker, PM to visit Chitral

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza on Sunday accepted an invitation from MNA Shahzada Mohiuddin to visit Chitral.

During budget debate in the National Assembly, the MNA requested her to visit his constituency to know about the problems of the people there. He offered to arrange for a helicopter for the purpose.

When Shahzada finished his speech, Fehmida Mirza said she will visit Chitral along with the prime minister who was also present in the house and gave a nod in the affirmative.

Islamabad-Chitral flights from 15th

By Zar Alam Khan

ISLAMABAD, June 13: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)
has decided to restart its Islamabad-Chitral service from June
15.
The decision has been taken on public demand and to facilitate
tourists in visiting the scenic valley particularly during the
forthcoming Shandur festival.
Initially, the national flag carrier will operate one flight
daily which will take off from Islamabad at 7am and reach Chitral
via Peshawar. On return, the flight will also take the Peshawar
route to the capital.
PIA had first launched the service on May 25, 2007 to lessen
the communication problems of the area which remains cut off from
rest of the country in winter due to closure of the Lowari Pass.
However, the flights were suspended after about six months citing
unavailability of enough passengers.
But people of the valley had contested the claim and said
the PIA management deliberately made it impossible for the
passengers to get seats on the flights despite long queues of
ticket seekers in its offices in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Chitral.
Meanwhile, Chitrali people living in the twin cities of Rawalpindi
and Islamabad have welcomed the PIA decision and called upon its
management to take special measures to facilitate the ticket seekers.

The dispute over Shandur

By Zar Alam Khan

As the annual Shandur festival draws nearer, a controversy between
the Northern Areas administration and Chitral over some meadows and
pastures on the 10,500-foot-high pass has overshadowed the
preparations, threatening even the future of the now worldwide
popular event.
The dispute between the locals of Laspur, a valley in Mastuj area
of Chitral, and Ghizer district of Gilgit has a long history. But
the Northern Areas administration's claim over the whole Shandur
pass cropped up after the polo festival was given official status
in 1982 and the event started attracting tourists from all over
the world. Later, the Northern Areas administration unsuccessfully
tried to take over the management of the festival from Chitral.
The Northern Areas has been claiming that British era `documents'
were ample proof of the demarcation of Shandur area as a boundary
between Ghizer and Chitral, wherein the watershed of Shandur Lake
had been declared the line separating the two districts.
They say the Langar pastures were already 15kms inside the
boundaries of Ghizer; alleging that over a passage of time the
Chitral administration and some officials from the NWFP posted
in Gilgit attempted to tamper with the documents about the
jurisdiction of Shandur. However, `historical facts' negate such
allegation of fudged demarcation.
The N.As administration says Ghizer was part of Gilgit Agency
during the British Raj and in 1936 the then British Political
Agent of Gilgit Agency, Mr Cobb, constructed the Shandur polo
ground. This they consider as a proof that the land was part
of the Gilgit Agency.
Shandur is divided into two parts. On the one side, there are
a lake, the polo ground and pasture settlements running east-west
for about 10 km along the main road. This area is undisputed
property of Chitral. The pasture huts and settlements belong to
the people of Laspur in Chitral. The second portion runs
south-north and is called Langar or Kukush, that had timber forest
in the past and was jointly used by the people of Ghizer and
Laspur.
According to prominent scholar and researcher Dr Inayatullah
Faizi, there has been no controversy over Shandur polo ground,
Shandur Lake and the summer pasture of the valley and the area
has remained an integral part of Chitral since long. Hundreds
of summer huts set up by people from Laspur in Shandur also
negate the claim of the people of Northern Areas. In 1959, he
says, the number of huts there was 344, which rose to 479 in
2007 and was still growing.
Occasionally, however, there had been some disputes between
the people of Laspur and Ghizer over the pasture of Langar
which, according to the people of Northern Areas, is located
15 kilometers inside Gilgit borders. As a result, Jirgas of
elders and officials of both the sides were held in 1914
and 1959 to work out modalities for grazing cattle in the
pasture and for using firewood and timber of the Langar forest.
The 1959 Jirga allowed both the people of Laspur and Ghizer to
graze their cattle in the pasture. It, however, specifically
allowed the people of Laspur to also use firewood and
recognized their right on timber of the forest. However, to
contain the growing pace of deforestation in Langar, the Jirga
decided that timber would be used for the repair or
construction of the summer huts only. As far as the use of wood
to repair the existing huts was concerned, the people of
Laspur were allowed to take woods from the forest freely. But
for construction of new huts, they were bound to obtain
permission to cut wood from the governors of Ghizer and
Mastuj of Chitral.
The verdict amply negated the claim that Langar pasture was
located some 15km inside the boundaries of Gilgit, according
to Dr Faizi.
“The second proof that Shandur meadows, lake and the areas
were integral part of Chitral and have never been disputed
is that in 1914 Shujaul Mulk, the Mehtar (ruler) of the
then princely state of Chitral, got constructed a summer
palace at the bank of Shandur Lake near Mas Junali (moony
polo ground) and a boat was also placed there. The summer
palace existed there till 1959, when it collapsed due to
poor maintenance. The ruins and rubble can still be
seen there.”
Dr Faizi also ridicules the claim of the Northern Areas
administration that Mr Cobb constructed the Shandur polo
ground. He says Mr Cobb was in the area from 1920 to
1937 while the polo ground existed in Shandur even before
1440. "Col Lockhart visited Shandur in 1876 and mentioned
in his report the existence of a polo ground in Shandur,"
he says. "Mr Cobb was a polo fan and he used to come to
Shandur for playing the game on the invitation of Mehtar
of Chitral in moon light. He had nothing to do with the
construction of the polo ground in Shandur," he argues.
In 2001, the matter was taken to the ministries of states
and frontier region (Safron) and interior. In July 2003,
a Jirga was held in Safron, wherein the NWFP government
persuaded the ministry that Shandur was an integral part
of Chitral. The NWFP government gave three arguments to
substantiate its point: In the Land Commission's report
of 1975, the two polo grounds of Shandur were mentioned as
the property of the NWFP government; the summer huts of
the people of Laspur and Chitral are present in the
meadows of Shandur, and a checkpost of the Frontier Corps
(FC) is also located on the pass.
About the sudden flare-up in the controversy, some people
on both sides of the Shandur pass say it is a handiwork
of elements trying to create a rift between the people
of Chitral and the Northern Areas. They also point fingers
at the Indian lobby for being active behind the
controversy. “Through a conspiracy, the lobby is attempting
to expand the Gilgit border westward.”
Notwithstanding the causes of the controversy, the dispute
would create law and order situation in the region besides
badly affecting its growing tourism industry.

Row may delay Yarkhun power house opening

Report Afzaluddin, Brep



The inauguration of Yukum power house in Yarkhun valley scheduled for July 11 seems uncertain due to a row between some households of Brep village and the executing agency over non-provision of electricity wires to the consumers.

The Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) had been provided a sum of Rs16 million by the government for construction of the 500KV power house to provide electricity to the villages of Brep, Pashk, Mahting and Dewangol. During the dialogue with the people, the AKRSP had promised that it would complete the project and supply power to each member of the nine societies formed for the purpose. Each member for the society had paid Rs3,000 besides working turn by turn at the site for 30 days on a self-help basis. Earlier, the AKRSP had received Rs600 from each member and now is asking them to pay Rs1,200 each for the electricity meters to be installed in their houses.

However, when the AKRSP started getting electricity wires fixed in the houses through the society members, it ran out of the wires after covering only three of the nine societies. For the households of the remaining six societies, the AKRSP has no answer as to when it would arrange the wires and has been using delaying tactics in purchasing them.

Some officials of the organization have also asked the people of Brep’s Jimlasht, Thorjal, Ratheni and Deh mohallas to get their old electricity wires connected with the mainline from the new power house. However, the villagers have rejected the proposal and are demanding new wires as promised to them earlier.

They have warned that if they were not provided with the wires before July 11, they would not allow the organization to open the power house on July 11.--Chitraltoday.com