Gilgit Sewerage Project: From Modern Technology to Local Mismanagement — A Chronicle of Public Hardship
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 disconnect between planning and implementation has turned what was meant to be a development initiative into a serious urban challenge—one that mirrors the city’s long-standing struggles with ad hoc growth and weak institutional foresight, as highlighted by Muazzam Ali in a public post on Facebook dated 11 January 2026.
According to informed sources, the project’s feasibility study was prepared by a Turkish firm employing modern, advanced technology, with due consideration given to Gilgit’s geography, sloping terrain, and future urban requirements. Yet the advantages of this sophisticated planning were effectively nullified when the project’s execution was entrusted to a local firm, which in turn subcontracted the work to contractors lacking the necessary technical expertise, experienced engineers, and trained manpower.
Consequently, highly sensitive technical tasks—such as laying sewerage lines, ensuring appropriate gradients, and constructing manholes—were carried out using traditional, unscientific methods. Local laborers, often working without adequate technical supervision, appear to have been left to make critical engineering decisions themselves, raising serious questions about the quality, durability, and long-term viability of the infrastructure being installed.
Compounding these issues is the failure to properly restore roads after excavation. Across several parts of the city, open pits, incomplete manholes, and exposed trenches have become persistent hazards. Pedestrian movement has been severely hampered, traffic disrupted, and escalating dust levels have intensified environmental pollution, posing tangible risks to public health.
Perhaps most alarming is the damage inflicted on natural water channels and domestic supply lines. In multiple localities, excavation for sewerage pipelines has severely disrupted water systems, triggering an acute water crisis in affected neighborhoods. The shortage of safe drinking water has begun to interfere with daily life, while leakage has caused water to seep into homes and agricultural land.
This disruption threatens fruit-bearing trees and standing crops and has turned the shelter and care of livestock into a serious concern during the cold season. Instead of enhancing urban convenience, the project is thus generating economic, environmental, and social hardships—deepening the legacy of environmental neglect rooted in decades of unplanned urbanization.
Analysts argue that the core problem lies not merely in flawed execution, but in the absence of effective oversight, rigorous technical audits, and enforceable accountability mechanisms. Had the standards and methodologies prescribed in the feasibility report been adhered to, and had subcontracting been subjected to strict supervision, Gilgit would not be confronting this predicament today.
These concerns were succinctly articulated in the aforementioned Facebook post of 11 January 2026, which drew attention to both the historical context of Gilgit’s urban neglect and the present-day consequences unfolding through the sewerage project.
There is now an urgent need for the government and relevant authorities to commission an impartial technical audit, identify responsibility for substandard work, restore damaged roads and neighborhoods on an emergency basis, and immediately repair disrupted water channels and supply lines. Failure to act risks allowing the project to evolve into a full-fledged urban and environmental crisis.
Ultimately, the true measure of development lies not in the announcement of projects, but in their accurate, transparent, and responsible implementation. At present, the Gilgit sewerage project stands as a critical test—one that demands timely, informed, and decisive intervention to restore public confidence and prevent history from repeating itself. Drawing lessons from Gilgit’s experience, authorities would do well to proactively plan urbanization in rapidly expanding areas such as Danyore, which is fast transitioning into an urban hub, so that similar consequences may be averted in the future.
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