ISLAMABAD: The threat of impending landslides in Miacher Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan is raising concerns as a landscape ecologist has warned that if slopes fail, a disaster 10 times the magnitude of the one that struck Attabad four years ago, is lying in wait.
Located about 70 kilometres from Gilgit, mountain slopes in Miacher Valley are laden with cracks that seem ready to give way.
Failure of the slopes is expected to block the Hunza River, drowning many adjacent settlements in its wake.
“A landslide in Miacher has the potential to cause a mega disaster,” claims Mujahid Ali Shah.
Govt to seek IMF waiver
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will have to seek waiver on performance criteria from the IMF on net borrowing from State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for obtaining the next tranche of $545m from the IMF.
The Nawaz Sharif government has missed out performance benchmark with a huge margin as the net borrowing from central bank stood at Rs633bn on January 17, 2014 against the envisaged target of curtailing it at Rs392bn by end December 2013.
The government might issue notification to this effect in the coming days but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will take the final decision in this regard.
Gas pipeline blown up
Islamabad: Militants attacked last night a gas pipeline in Dera Murad Jamali in south western of Pakistan.
The 18-inch-diametre pipeline which supplies gas to Uch power plant was blown up in Allawariya village, police official said.
The OGDCL team has been called in to repair the pipeline, while security forces have cordoned off the area.
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