ENVIRONMENT (WAITING FOR DISASTERS)

WAITING FOR DISASTERS:

This is Harnoi, about ten kilometres from the city centre of Abbottabad. This is the lowest point on the road to the mountaintop at Nathiagali at an elevation of 2410 metres (7900 ft). Before the turn of the millennium, this used to be a a serene rain-fed stream carrying water from the mountains, and used only for extraction of sand by tractor 🚜 trolleys. In 1992, a flood of biblical proportions swept across the entire length of the Hazara region which also inundated Harnoi causing widespread damage. But that flood which is not too old on the time scale seems to have been totally forgotten by all those, including the authorities in the government, who have turned Harnoi into a picnic point plus resort, right in the middle of the stream as could be seen in the pictures displayed above. Flash floods during the summer and winter monsoons have disrupted the no-holds-barred activities at this particular point several times, but authorities could not be seen to heed the warning of a disaster, if not a catastrophe, in the making.