New Delhi, Apr.9 (ANI): The 46 billion USD China-Pakistan Economic corridor, which seeks to upgrade the infrastructure of Pakistan as well as broaden ties between the two countries, will create a huge ecological imbalance in the region.
The corridor will link Pakistan's Gwadar city to China's autonomous region of Xinjiang via a wide network of highways and railways and to make that successful many forests are being cleared and houses are demolished in harsh winters.
Brigadier (Retd) V. Mahalingam says that the glaciers are melting and there have been unprecedented rains, and moreover Pakistan metrological department has clearly stated that it is due to ecological imbalance.
"Not only this, Timber mafia in the area is very active and the Pakistan government has turned a blind-eye to it. Timber is a very essential requirement in Gilgit-Baltistan to keep them warm as there is no electricity," he said.
Economically too, Gilgit-Baltistan remains backward. Natural resources of the region are plundered. For instance, many houses were razed during the harsh winter to make the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor a success.
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"Temperatures in Gilgit-Baltistan go below -20 degree Celsius, and in these harsh conditions people were thrown out of their houses and no alternate places were given to them. No compensation either was provided to them. Out of the 72000 sq. km. of land in Gilgit Baltistan, only 1-2 percent land is cultivable and if you throw people out and give the land to Chinese, where will they go?" he added.
The people of Gilgit-Baltistan have long suffered due to Pakistan Government's apathy and denial of their basic rights.
The administration blatantly violated and tramples on the rights and honor of the locals.
"International agencies like the United Nations have a moral duty to take care of the people of the region but they did nothing. It is absolutely necessary that major powers of the world take notice of what all is happening here" said Mahalingam.
There have been reports that Pakistan is mulling an idea to make Gilgit Baltistan its fifth province and it is believed that the idea is being engineered by the China to make its Economic corridor a success.
Last month, the opposition parties in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly submitted a bill in the GBLA secretariat, seeking repeal of Northern Areas Noutor Rules, 1978, to protect ownership rights of the people over the common land.
The bill titled Gilgit-Baltistan Village Common Land (Shamilat Deh) Regulation Act, 2016, seeks compensation for all common lands acquired by the government for construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.