The Kaghan Development Authority (KDA) Wednesday has launched a significant operation to break and remove melting glaciers at various locations to ensure the safety of tourists. This initiative is being carried out under the directives of Director General KDA Shabbir Khan.
Deputy Director Ameen-ul-Hassan, following the instructions, has formed a specialized team led by Building Inspector Faizan Khan. The team is actively engaged in the removal of melting glaciers using heavy machinery.
These glaciers pose potential threats to thousands of tourists visiting popular spots in the Naran Valley, including Chitta Katha Lake and the Saif-ul-Muluk Road.
The administration has issued a cautionary advisory to all tourists. Visitors are strongly urged to refrain from taking.
Additionally, tourists are advised to avoid dangerous routes prone to sliding to prevent any possible accidents.
Due to increasing temperatures in the region, glaciers at various tourist spots in Kaghan and Naran have started melting. A couple of days ago, two tourists from Punjab were buried under the snow while taking photos when a glacier suddenly collapsed, resulting in their tragic deaths.
“We cut seven glaciers along the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road and Lake Road in the Kaghan Valley as they became hollow due to the rapid melting of snow in the hot weather,” KDA assistant director Asad Shahzad Khan said.
“We had cut such glaciers twice earlier in this season for the safety of visitors and police have been deployed as well to restrict mobility of visitors nearby but even then two tourists were buried alive,” he said.
“More than 30 small and giant glaciers still fall in the Kaghan Valley and all those which have gone hollow because of climate changes might be grounded during ongoing operation,” the official added.
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The assistant director stated that the remaining glaciers located along the MNJ Road up to Babusar Top will be removed by the National Highway Authority. The MNJ Road, which connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit-Baltistan, falls under the jurisdiction of the National Highway Authority, and they have been approached to urgently address the issue of cutting down the hollow glaciers in that area.
Additionally, a technical committee formed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has yet to release its findings on an incident earlier this year. In this incident, massive avalanches rolled down and caused damage to over two dozen hotels, huts, and other structures in Naran, which is the commercial center of the Kaghan Valley.
