As Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) has been denied basic human and constitutional rights by successive federal governments in the last 70 years, the striking and beautiful region has also been facing the dilemma of deforestation and tree-cutting mostly for firewood and construction and denuding of the landscape having a far-reaching impact on environment, biodiversity and ecosystem of the resgion.
Political deprivations and the increasing alienation among the GB people aside, the high and mighty mountains of Karakoram and Himalayas are suffering the high risk of laying bare due to the heavy cutting of trees and forests for firewood especially in the winters as almost 90 percent of the population has no other option but to rely on wood and timber for heating and cooking, with only 10 percent of populace in the whole region having access to other means of fuel such as kerosene, electricity (for domestic heating and running boilers) etc.
With the start of snow-falling, winters get harsher in the north of Pakistan like other northern hemispheres of the world and people remain confined to their homes, cocooning around hearths, stoves and fireplaces to get themselves warm by burning wood and dung — that they collect in advance to brace the cold days and nights.
This godforsaken region is left at the mercy of nature for almost six months in the winters and how the inhabitants spend their days and nights could only be felt and experienced by the wretched local populace themselves. The whole GB does not have access to piped natural gas and the production of hydro-electricity falls almost 90 percent as snow-capped mountains stop dripping and releasing water. In almost all districts and towns of GB, only a tiny percentage of people, especially the elite, politicians and government high-ups, get regular power supply in the winters, the rest of the population is left high and dry and they heavily rely on firewood and kerosene oil for heating, cooking and other purposes. The irony is that jungles and forests are shrinking due to the merciless logging and cutting of trees, the common man faces the dilemma of the shortage of firewood for daily consumption against an affordable price.
The danger of deforestation is looming large at a time when global warming is causing fewer rains and snow-falling with each passing year. The destruction of the tree cover is mostly necessitated by poverty, lack of access to other sources of energy, and in turn, it affects the water cycle (in the shape of heavy glacial melting), leading to soil erosion, while the use of dung an alternative fuel for heating and cooking leads to the loss of soil fertility.
In GB, poverty and lack of access to other means of sources foster the destruction of tree cover, in turn, affecting the water cycle and leading to soil erosion. The wood smoke also contains toxic carbons that lead to serious health complications particularly among children, elderly people and the pregnant women besides impacting the environment, contributing to fog and smog and even acid rain that is devastating for humans and other living beings.
A 56-year-old man in Gayul said that his family of five was bound to spend the winter in a single room of a mud-house, burning the dung collected in summers to warm themselves in the winter. He said that brushwood and firewood collected from mountains were not enough for the long winter of Skardu and they have to burn the dung.
In the last 70-years, the federal government has failed to give any relief to the wretched inhabitants of GB in terms of basic and constitutional rights and the provision of basic facilities including affordable fuel in the shape of piped gas, it has mostly relied on subsidies, which is no permanent solution to the various deprivations of the subjects.
The federal government urgently needs to carry out a survey of the whole region to lay pipelines for supplying natural gas in the area to not only save the jungles but also the fast-melting glaciers, directly impacted by the deforestation and other human activities. The fast melting of glaciers could have far-reaching consequences not only for the region but also for the whole country.
As the federal government has embarked on the afforestation drive across the country, it needs to pay special focus to GB to save its forests and jungles by providing natural gas to the region to help stop the denudation of mountains and the resultant melting of glaciers, the lifeline of the country for agriculture and hydro-electricity production.
Secondly, the federal government urgently needs to satisfy the increasing alienation and simmering feelings of the GB people by providing them with basic constitutional rights as mere political statements will further rub salt to their deep wounds. The dwindling hopes among the subjects are needed to be rekindled by providing them with basic and constitutional rights and the provision of facilities including the natural gas. It is time to take some serious decisions to ameliorate the worst of the excesses that had been meted out to the subjects over the years to avert a possible public movement like that in Indian occupied Kashmir, as the number of nationalists is increasing in GB with each passing day, which should be a matter of concern for Pakistan, which is already facing different challenges in its different parts. The federal government and all other stakeholders need to intervene immediately to reach out to the GB people by providing them with basic human and constitutional rights and amenities including piped gas, otherwise, the country risks find itself bogged down in another flashpoint and international powers and hidden hands could easily exploit the situation, while highly banking on the deprivations of the GB people whose patriotism, loyalty and devotion to the country could not be doubted.
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