By Syed Shamsuddin From Crystal Clarity to Public Health Catastrophe: Gilgit-Baltistan’s Silent Water Emergency Inspired by the write-up of Iqbal Bijar Gilgit-Baltistan, famed for its snow-clad peaks, ancient glaciers, and crystal-clear streams, has long been perceived as a land where nature itself guarantees purity and health. For generations, the glass-like clarity of its water fostered an unquestioned belief that what looks clean must be safe. As forcefully highlighted in Iqbal Bijar’s original write-up, this belief has now proven to be a dangerous illusion. Beneath the shimmering surface lies a deepening public-health crisis—one that has quietly but steadily begun to erode the well-being of the entire region. Recent scientific assessments, including reports by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), have dismantled the myth of visual purity. Water samples collected from multiple districts of Gilgit-Baltistan...
Gilgit Sewerage Project: From Modern Technology to Local Mismanagement — A Chronicle of Public Hardship
By Syed Shamsuddin Gilgit , the provincial metropolis of Gilgit-Baltistan , was once a modest and well-balanced township, distinguished by two grand, parallel watercourses—locally known as dalejas —that supplied pristine drinking and irrigation water until the 1960s. Over time, however, this once-verdant landscape has been marred by a chequered urban history. Decades of haphazard construction, undertaken in the absence of any coherent town-planning framework or master plan, gradually dismantled natural water systems and disturbed ecological equilibrium, inflicting enduring damage on what had been a carefully sustained settlement. It is against this historical backdrop that the ongoing sewerage project in Gilgit has emerged as a focal point of intense public concern. Envisioned as a major step toward improved urban services and modern infrastructure, the project’s on-ground execution tells a far less reassuring story. A pronounced dis...