Wooden poles are being used in Shimshal valley for electricity supply
Shujaat Ali
Most people of Hunza Gojal visit their home towns in July just to enjoy the pleasant weather with their family members. Moreover, Ismaili community all over the world celebrates the Imamat Day of Prince Karim Aga Khan as their 49th spiritual leader on 11 July every year with traditional and spiritual joy and favor.
This year an unfortunate incident took place in Shimshal in the second week of July. In a tragic incident Sheeza Farheen daughter of Zaman Karim who had just started her school life passed away in Shimshal due to electrocution. It was a rainy day and the innocent school girl was playing near her home close to an electricity pole. Suddenly, she came in touch with a high tension wet wooden pole, electrocuted and died instantly. The whole community was shocked to know about this unforeseen death case.
Shimshal has a micro hydro electric power station donated by government ofJapanand the project was carried out by the Aga Khan Rural Support Program, Gilgit-Baltistan in 1996. There was no road access to Shimshal at that time therefore the water pipes and generator along with turbine were brought there by helicopter. It was not possible to supply electricity poles at that time due to no road link. Therefore dried up poplar trees were used as an alternate for iron electricity poles.
Despite repeated requests made to the concerned government officials to replace these temporary electricity poles with permanent ones but even after fifteen years they have been not been replaced. As a result the temporary electric polls are becoming useless with the passage of time and started falling on the grounds resulting twists in electric wires at different locations. Under such circumstances, it is very risky to use electricity with rough poles and improper lines. After this incident, the local community has again requested the concerned government authorities to immediately replace the wooden poles with a long lasting iron poles so that such incidents may not occur again in future.
PAMIR TIMES 
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Very sad incident. I hope that the concerned authorities must take immediate step to overcome such problems in future. Replacement of electricity polls is a genuine demand from the people of Shimshal that must be given top most priority by the local representative of GB legislative assembly members.