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ISLAMABAD(APP): Pakistan Pavilion in the International Tourism Exchange (ITB-Berlin 10-14 March 2010) pulled over a great number of German and international visitors to the Pakistan’s enchanting beauties in its rich tourism sector.The world’s largest five-day tourism exhibition was inaugurated at Berlin, Germany, said a fax message received here Wednesday.
Pakistan pavilion was set up on 41 sqm space by PTDC in collaboration with Sarhad Tourism Corporation, Sindh Tourism Development Corporation, Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department and Pakistan’s leading tour operators and Pakistan Association of Tour Operators (PATO).
Federal Government’s two-member delegation was led by Atta-ur-Rahman, Federal Minister for Tourism, while Syed Aqil Shah, NWFP Minister for Culture & Tourism and Shazia Jannat Marri, Sindh Minister for Tourism, Rabia Javeri, Secretary Tourism Sindh, Imran Sikandar Baloch, Secretary Tourism Gilgit Baltistan, represented Provincial Governments.
Azam Khan, MD STC and Abdul Wahab Khan, General Manager PTDC, and Yasir Hussain, Deputy Director Tourism, Gilgit Baltistan also represented public sector tourism organizations in addition to the representatives of public and private sector tourism organizations.
Pakistan Pavilion in ITB have been decorated with huge backdrop and banner depicting tourist attractions of Pakistan, which was appreciated by every visitor to the exhibition.
Documentaries on tourist attractions are also being shown alternately on the plazma screen.
The pavilion is decorated with large posters and banners showing Pakistan’s natural beauty, unique architecture and wonderful cultural heritage.
Free brochures, posters, view cards, CDs, DVDs were distributed by PTDC Information Counter among the visitors.
Pakistan Pavilion offered number of gift / giveaways, dry fruits, mehndi, glass bangles collar flag pins, and Pakistan flag pins free of cost.
The main attraction for the visitors were mehndi, bangles and dry fruit.
The Pakistani tour operators remained busy in holding meetings with their German counterparts, trade professionals, tour operators /travel agents and media teams.
Pakistani tour operators exchanged contacts with their counterparts marketed their newly designed tour packages.
Atta-ur-Rahman, Federal Minister for Tourism represented Pakistan at the inaugural ceremony as well as at the tourism seminars on sideline of the exhibition.
LAHORE : Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Chairperson Asma Jahangir has asked the government to take notice of the miserable condition of the residents of Attaabad, Gojal Hunza Valley badly hit by landslide on Jan 4.
In a Press conference, Asma Jahangir and Hunza residents demanded of the government to take notice of the calamity hit area and provide relief to the suffering people. HRCP Punjab Vice-Chairman Dr Mehdi Hassan, Convenor Joint Action Committee for Peoples Rights Shahtaj Qazilbash, Nadeem Anthony, Sher Ali, Malika and Hussain Naqi Jahangir were also present on the occasion. Continue reading HRCP seeks help for Gojal people
ISLAMABAD: Breaches in the 15km-long and 60 metre-deep lake that was formed after a landslide in Hunza could wreak havoc all the way down to Tarbela dam.
Fearing a disaster, the environment ministry has called for preparation of an emergency plan to cope with a possible flood which may affect the population and infrastructure along the Hunza/Indus river valley from Attabad to Tarbela.
“Preparations must start immediately,” the ministry said.
The warning was issued by the ministry on Tuesday at a meeting held to review the situation in the aftermath of a massive landslide that hit Attabad in Hunza on Jan 4. It claimed 19 lives and formed a lake that cut off more than 25,000 people living upstream from communities living downstream.
Hunza river is one of the main tributaries feeding the lake whose water level is rising furiously by two feet every day.
An outburst in the lake would throw up a large flood wave that could travel downstream as far as Tarbela Dam, the meeting, presided over by Environment Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi, was informed.
It will endanger the downstream population and can cause substantive damage to infrastructure and livelihood all the way down to the dam.
Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Secretary Babar Fateh Yaqoob and Home Secretary Mohammad Usman informed the meeting that spillways had been raised and emergency arrangements made to cope with the situation. Measures like relocation of the affected people, monitoring of alert systems and availability of fund, food and medicines were under way, they said.
The meeting called for safety of downstream communities, constant monitoring of the water level in dam, effective communication and evacuation plans and development of an early warning system and a 24-hour monitoring service.
The meeting urged the government to seek assistance and expertise from China to mitigate the threat. Continue reading The lake formed at Hunza river poses threat to tarbela dam
ISLAMABAD(APP): President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday sought a report from Governor Gilgit Baltistan over the relief and rehabilitation measures undertaken for the landslide affectees of Atta Abad in the Hunza valley and steps for the draining of an artificial lake.The massive landslide had hit Hunza District on January 4, that led to the sliding of two villages including Atta Abad into the Hunza River. The landslide wiped-out everything in its path and the debris fell down into the Hunza River, blocking its water flow.
On that occasion, President Asif Ali Zardari, while expressing his deep shock and grief over massive landsliding that caused loss of life and destruction of private property had ordered for immediate measures to bring relief to the affected families.
The President sought a report to update him about the measures taken by Gilgit Baltistan administration and also by the federal government regarding the provision of shelter, food and medical help for the displaced people. He has also asked about the progress on measures taken to drain the artificial lake that was a growing threat to the downstream areas.
By Sher Afzal Ehsam
The government needs to act fast. Gojal should be declared a calamity-hit area, extending rightful facilities to its residents. The debris removal work should be expedited by extending the shifts to 24 hours and increasing the labour and number of machines
“But at my back I always hear time’s winged chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie deserts of vast eternity” — Andrew Marvell: ‘To His Coy Mistress’.
The inhabitants of Gojal can hear, feel, and dread the nimble footfalls of water that is rising, extending, and seeping into newly found tracks, obliterating everything on its way. Their days are obsessed with the fear of fast approaching water. Their night’s sleep is marred by the nightmares of ferocious waves of the Hunza River. Will it catch us unawares? Is it a matter of weeks, or days or hours? Among them are also young girls and boys whose schools are either damaged or on the list of potential targets of brutal water, gushing out and gulping whatever comes in its way.
It started with the landslide at Atta Abad on January 4 this year when 20 people died and a number of houses caved in. The calamity did not stop here; rather it acted as a precursor to a tragedy of much greater magnitude. The debris, as a result of landslides, obstructed the flow of River Hunza and formed an artificial lake whose level is rising by the minute. The length of the barrier is 3,000 meters, width 550 meters, and height 135 meters. The artificial lake is around 11 km long. The reservoir is 171 million cubic meters. Until now (first week of March), the water has played havoc, damaging a three kilometre piece of Karakoram highway and is beginning to enter the low-lying areas of Kishkat, Gulmit, Hussaini and Passu. The longest bridge between Shishkat and Gulmit has already been submerged, severing Gojal’s link with the outer world Continue reading The sinking paradise of Gojal
ISLAMABAD: The people of Gilgit-Baltistan are true Pakistanis and they are in favour of getting the status of a province of Pakistan, said the speaker of the area’s legislative assembly Wazir Baig here on Saturday.
Addressing the media in the National Press Club along with Deputy Speaker Jamil Ahmed, Mr Baig said the residents of Gilgit-Baltistan had rendered sacrifices for more than six decades for resolution of Kashmir issue despite the fact that the region had never been a part of the Jammu Kashmir state even during Dogra rule.
“The region was a remote part of the Dogra rule, not a unit of the Kashmir state,” he said, adding granting the status of a province to the region would not have any negative impact on the Kashmir cause.
He also stressed the need for speeding up efforts to clear the artificial lake formed by a landslide on Hunza river at Attabad. Continue reading Gojal should be declared “calamity hit” Wazir Baig
By Nadeem Aman Rumi
Karachi(HT): The members and the supporters of SAVE-GOJAL HUNZA committee are on hunger strike in front of Karachi press club since 23rd febaray 2010. The activists has demanded to accelerate the pace of work to release the water of the artifical lake formed due to the Attabad land slide and increase the time of working to 24 hours. They have demanded to increase the number of machines, declare Gojal calamity hit area and declare the victims as IDPs. Sattle the effecties of Shishkat and Ayeenabad adn provide them instant help, Replace the boats provided by the Government to avoid more disasters.The activists also demanded to improve the halicopter and increase.
Member national assembly Marvi Memon joins the activists in hunger strike. She express her sympathy with the victims of Attabad Hunza. She assured that she will convey their demand to PM and President and will raise this issue in assembly floor.
Strike will continue till their demands are met.
Photographs (Nadeem A Rumi)
 PHOTO BY RIZWAN BURCHA SHARED BY SHAMS HUNZAI Gilgit ( HT ) : A child with a very rare genetic skin disorder Harlequin-type ichthyosis was born in Gilgit Friday night that brought dozens of people to the hospital to catch a glimpse of the child.
According to details, the child has red stripes all over the body and his hands are different than normal human babies. Eyelids of the baby are also severely averted, which leaves the eyes and the area around them very susceptible to trauma whereas the lips are pulled by the dry skin.
According to Dr Iftikhar, a pediatrician, the child is suffering from a rare skin disease Harlequin-type ichthyosis due to which the body looks like a tiger. He said that continuous cousin marriages may result in such cases.
In Pakistan, four such cases have been reported so far and all four died soon after the birth.
In the past, the disorder was invariably fatal, whether due to dehydration, infection (sepsis), restricted breathing due to the plating, or other related causes. The most common cause of death was systemic infection and sufferers rarely survived for more than a few days. However, there have been improvements in care due to modern medical practices.
The oldest known survivor is 24-year old Nusrit Nelly Shaheen. Most sufferers die when they are babies.
Skardo: A comprehensive economic package was being prepared for socio-economic uplift of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), said Asian Development Bank (ADB) sources.
Talking to the media, the sources said, the proposed package would prove helpful in accelerating development work in the region.
A high level meeting of Asian Development Bank, World Bank (WB) and Gilgit-Baltistan administration was held in Islamabad to discuss the package, the sources said.
According to details, ADB and WB would invest jointly in mega projects of Health, Education, Agriculture, Power, Social uplift, Tourism, Mineral, and environment sectors in Gilgit Baltistan
The sources said public representatives and political leaders would also be invited in near future to discuss the package further in detail to formulate a comprehensive package. —APP
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