The Karakoram Highway (KKH) has been blocked in the limits of the Lotar Police Station in Alto Kohistan due to a large landslide since Monday night, police officers said today.
This disconnects Gilgit Baltistan and parts of Kohistan from the rest of the country, leaving hundreds of travelers and families stranded on both sides of the international route.
Last week, the KKH reopened traffic after the company executed the DASU hydroelectric project in the upper district of Kohistan eliminated a mass landslide that had blocked the road at the beginning of the week.
The police officer of the control room of the Upper Kohistan control room, Minhajdin, confirmed the road blocking by phone to Dawn.comWhile Gilgit Baltistan’s District Police officer, Abdul Khaliq, also confirmed the blockade.
“The Karakoram road has been blocked since last night in the Lotar area, which are the limits of the height of Kohistan. Recently I contacted an official in the Kohistan police who said that the landslide is massive, and its opening until night is not possible with a single cleaning machine, ”said Khaliq.
He added that the passengers were stranded on both sides of the block. However, Diamer’s police were on the roads to inform travelers who were heading to Islamabad and other cities that would wait in Chilas City until the road opened.
Minhajuddin in the Kohistan Superior Room said Dawn.com That work at the opening of the road was underway, but the rocks were large and blocked in a portion of 100 meters of the road in the Lotar area.
He said that stranded passengers were being treated with Iftari in Kohistan by local people and administration, since the KKH was blocked for the fifth time in the last 10 days.
Ali Shah Sharliat, a passenger, told him Dawn.com that he was traveling to Gilgit and remained stuck along the way along with his family and was waiting for the closure of the road, but the rhythm of the road elimination was not only slow, but understood a single machine work at the point.
He said the weather was cold and was experiencing difficulties while fasting with the family.
He urged the Government to solve this problem permanently because the KKH is often blocked, mainly in the areas of Kohistan and Diamer, and even people lose their beautiful lives due to landslides.
At the beginning of the month, two brothers were killed after being run over for a landslide at the same point, looked, when they were traveling back to Bisham from Gilgit.
Last month, the passengers traveling to and from Gilgit-Baltist and Islamabad were trapped in the kkh, since the heavy rains caused land landslides that blocked the main road in several points of Kohistan.
