Zulfiqar Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, July 9: Losing all hope in government intervention, desperate villagers of Junalikoch on Wednesday turned to the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), urging it to build protective walls as the surging Yarkhun River carves away what little land remains, warning that their homes are now at imminent risk of being swept away.
Talking to ChitralToday, residents of the village appealed to the AKF to erect protective walls similar to those built last year in the Lower village – defences that locals said held strong against the river’s fury.
As the river continues to erode the village, especially in the central and upper parts, locals said government officials are nowhere to be found.
“The baboos could be seen enjoying the evening weather, riding their official tinted-glass vehicles, while doing nothing to save the village,” said a villager.
The villagers slammed the outgoing Deputy Commissioner Hasibur Rehman Khalil for allegedly “staging a drama” – sending a bulldozer and excavator only after the river surged past safe levels, rendering any intervention pointless.
The DC could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts on his cellphone.
The villagers claimed they repeatedly warned officials to act before summer, but said their pleas “fell on deaf ears.”
However, they said that despite limited resources, AKF and AKAH had built protective walls and carried out emergency interventions to stem the river’s erosion.
They said last year’s wall in Lower Junalikoch – overseen by Area Programme Manager Wali Muhammad Khan of AKAH – was a game changer.
“Without that protective wall, Lower Junalikoch would have gone,” one villager said.
People in upper and central Junalikoch said they are running out of time and pleaded directly to AKF CEO Akhtar Iqbal to intervene once more to save the village.
Residents warned that the central village area is next in the river’s crosshairs, adding that without a new protective wall, total devastation is imminent and the whole of Junalikoch might be wiped off the map.
With the government largely absent, the villagers said AKF is their only lifeline – delivering real impact, river by river, village by village.