Published on: Dawn News By Syed Shamsuddin Gilgit, the provincial metropolis of Gilgit-Baltistan, is facing a number of civic problems due to its fast but unplanned urbanization. The most serious of these is the worsening status of the city’s drainage and sewerage system, which is threatening public health even as other civic amenities come under pressure of the growing population and increased commercial and economic activity. Gilgit, which had no special need for a modern sewerage system until the sixties being a tranquil habitat of a simple farming society, has been transforming into an urban and commercial hub with the government and non-government offices clustered here. Population growth in the absence of a proper drainage and sewerage system has resulted in the contamination of the two arterial canals (dalejas) which had hitherto supplied potable water to the town. This has resulted in sharp rise in gastrointestinal diseases among users of these water channels. I
A dainty teacup with the flavours from Gilgit-Baltistan