Since Attabad Lake’s formation, it has become a very busy tourist attraction. According to the Tourism Department of Pakistan, Attabad Lake also known as Gojal lake is one of the busiest tourist attractions in Pakistan. There is a complete village under the lake and you can see the actual houses if you go near to the lake.
Geologically, this region is one of the most complex landscapes in the world, exhibiting a great variety of rock types and structures. Geologists say that the mountains around Attabad are very unstable due to erosion and weathering processes, seismic activity, steep terrain, snow melt, rainfall and irrigation for agriculture, and sediments carried by glacial melt into rivers. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Kashmir’s Astore Valley in 2002 caused cracks to emerge on the back-slopes of the mountains surrounding Attabad, and is believed to be one of the key triggers of the landslide.
The experts warned of rockslides and said mountain slopes had become unstable in many places, further widening fissures and increasing the occurrence of landslides. Water from rain, snow melt and irrigation collected in fissures, accelerating erosion processes and greatly increasing the vulnerability of already unstable mountain slopes. On the basis of these studies, Attabad was declared a high-hazard area. The Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) suggested that local authorities evacuate residents from the vulnerable area and monitor hazards during the winter and snow melt season.
As predicted, On January 4, 2010, a massive landside thundered down the sides of the remote Hunza Valley in the Karakorum mountain range in the Gilgit Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. The landslide fell across the Hunza River at a place called Attabad, forming a dam approximately 1,200 meters long, 350 meters wide and 125 meters deep, destroying part of the Karakorum Highway – a vital road link between Pakistan and China – and killing 20 people and 26 homes. The disaster, however, was far from over.
The waters behind the newly formed natural dam soon rose to a depth of more than 300 feet. The lake reached 21 kilometres (13 mi) long and over 100 metres (330 ft) in depth by the first week of June 2010 when it began flowing over the landslide dam, completely submerging lower Shishkat and partly flooding Gulmit. The subdivision of Gojal has the greatest number of flooded buildings, over 170 houses, and 120 shops. The residents also had shortages of food and other items due to the blockage of the Karakoram Highway. By 4 June water outflow from the lake had increased to 100 m3/s.
As the lake grew, it displaced some 6000 people from upstream villages and submerged 22 kilometers of the Karakorum Highway, leaving the region stranded. Water levels continued to rise in 18 June 2010 caused by a difference in the outflow and inflow of the new lake. As bad weather continued, the supply of food, medicine and other goods was stopped as all forms of transportation including helicopter service to Hunza could not resume.
The government provided aid to the victims, but many remained in fear of further disaster.
After the Attabad disaster, four villages – Ainabad, Shishkat, Gulmit and Gulkin – were completely submerged. Apple orchards with trees hundreds of years old, Buddhist relics, mosques, temples and wooden houses with their carved pillars all drowned in the lake.
The dam and the lake have now become a permanent geologic feature in the landscape; though the faint threat that the lake could burst and cause catastrophic flooding remains.
In 2012, a spillway was made to release a steady flow of water and as the water level reduced, it revealed some land that had been buried but most of it is still underneath.
The Karakorum Highway is now rebuilt by Chinese engineers. A new connection is being carved into the mountains making long tunnels around the lake known as Pak-China Friendship tunnels. Before the connection is restored, the only way to reach the villages of Shishkat, Gulmit, Passu and places onward to the Chinese border was to cross the beautiful, blue lake by boats.
Attabad Lake is about half an hour east of Karimabad, the capital of the Hunza District in the Gilgit-Baltistan province of Pakistan (Karimabad, incidentally, was named one of the five “Best Tourist Sites” in Pakistan by The Guardian). It won’t cost more than Rs. 2000 ($23) for this trip from Karimabad to Attabad Lake. If you arrive independently, you can arrange trips on the lake with local guides in Karimabad. Most boat trips tend to last at least an hour. Alternatively, you can organize five-day tours from Islamabad, which often include the Hunza Valley, Attabad Lake, and the Pakistan-China border region.
The lake’s chilly waters are a stunning turquoise in spring and early summer, when meltwater from the surrounding mountains deposits glacial silt into the lake. In winter, the lake typically freezes over.
Most visitors come to enjoy this spectacular landscape when the lake is ice-free. Various recreational activities take place on and around the lake, including boating, jet skiing, and fishing. And with the rise in tourism, an increasing number of hotels and guesthouses have sprung up around the lake, as well as a handful of campsites.
Presumably, the influx of tourists has benefited many of the locals who were affected by the landslide. And now that the highway has been rebuilt with new tunnels, access is much better than how it was before. Still, if you take a boat out onto the calm surface of Attabad Lake, it’s strange to think that 300 meters below you, sits a once-lively village. Attabad Lake is a perfect spot to capture some of the most amazing portraits. If you are a nature loving person then you will love the Attabad Lake. It will cost you around Rs. 2500 ($28) to rent out a boat for 25 minutes or so. Attabad Lake is one of the most favorite spots of foreigners as well. The water is so blue that you will love the pictures and scenic views.
