Thousands of locals from different parts of Gilgit-Baltistan have blocked 1,300-kilometre Karakoram Highway (KKH) at many points for the past several days in protest against rampant power failure. This has led to hundreds of trucks loaded with goods getting stranded on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the trade getting disrupted. Loaded trucks coming from China and headed towards coastal town of Gwadar in Balochistan have been stuck for the past week. Pakistani trucks heading towards China are also unable to ply as sit-ins and protests have impacted snow clearing operations.
As temperatures have plunged to minus 15 degrees Celsius in many parts, the power is playing truant for over 20 hours on an average, triggering massive protests. Load-shedding all over Pakistan is fairly widespread phenomenon but residents of the mountainous, snow-covered regions in Gilgit-Baltistan have been forced to endure prolonged blackouts.
The blockade of the highway as led to hundreds of trucks, mostly loaded with goods, getting stranded on this route which provides connectivity between Pakistan and China. The protests, launched initially on a call given by the Hunza Awami Action Committee (HAAC) and the All Parties Traders Association (APTA) against the power crisis in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, has totally paralyzed trade between Pakistan and China for a week now, according to a Dawn report.
The protesters have been blocking several key points on the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in Hunza district’s Aliabad area for the sixth day on Wednesday. Due to these protests and sit-ins, over 800 trucks, including vehicles loaded with imports and exports, have been stuck at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) dry port, according to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Imran Ali.
“Trucks carrying goods from China are stuck at the dry port, while Pakistani trucks meant to transport goods within the country are stranded at different places within Hunza,” Ali said. Earlier, government offers were rejected and residents had announced to continue protesting till the resolution of the issue.
“We have been facing the worst kind of power cuts, we get only one or two hours of electricity during the whole day,” Baba Jan, a political activist who was participating in the protests, said.
Hundreds of people have joined the protest demonstrations in the picturesque valley of Hunza for the last several days. This had led to blocking a substantial section of the 1,300-kilometre highway, preventing dozens of freight trucks from crossing over into China. People in the region usually rely on wood to keep warm as both gas and fuel-operated generators are considered too expensive. However, wood shortages and perpetual power cuts have irked the residents who are mostly Shias.
“People from all walks of life including the tourists are suffering in extremely cold weather due to the absence of electricity,” Zahoor Ali, another protester said. The highway is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in which China has invested billions of dollars, connecting the northern border to the southern coastal city of Gwadar in Balochistan.
“The Karakoram Highway at Ali Abad in Hunza is completely blocked for traffic… business between Pakistan and China is suspended for days owing to the blockade,” local trader Javaid Hussain said. “For the smooth running of business between Pakistan and China, the government should take steps to end the power crisis in the region.”
Gilgit-Baltistan political leadership and administration enjoy far less powers as compared to provinces like Punjab or Sindh. Besides systematic political disempowerment by Pakistan is a major point of discontent among the residents against Pakistan. Due to devious machinations of Islamabad, political instability and economic stagnation plague Gilgit-Baltistan.
Owing to its remoteness, Gilgit-Baltistan is not connected to the national grid and fails to generate enough power from dozens of hydropower plants and not enough thermal plants have been set up by the Federal government. Even those that exist are not run to their capacity as transporting coal to them is a costly proposition.
The protesters have been demanding that thermal generator plants be activated immediately to provide much-needed power to the people. They have also been demanding that under-construction power projects be expedited.
So far, the protesters have rejected the offers made by officials as they termed these offers as “fake promises”. The protestors have been saying that promises to restore power supply were made in the past too but never honoured as the Federal government ignores Gilgit-Baltistan.
According to residents, many tourists going to the region to enjoy the snowfall at the Pak-China border were also returning to their homes due to the prevailing uncertainty and this was negatively impact tourism too.
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