In northern Pakistan, an artifical lake formed by a landslide in January is now threatening to burst its banks and inundate more than 39 villages in the regions of Hunza and Gilgit.<br /><br />Officials have evacuated thousands of people this week amid fears a potential burst could affect about 50,000 people downstream and sever a road serving as an important trade link with China.<br /><br />Over the past few months many villages have been swallowed in the reservoir and stranded people have had to use boats to travel on the icy waters. <br /><br />Officials hope for a gradual erosion of the blockage once the water starts flowing sometime next week through a canal that army engineers created to drain the lake.<br /><br />But they have not ruled out a sudden breach that could lead to massive flooding.<br /><br />Many residents have complained that the government's help came too late.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder reports.<br /><br />[May 22, 2010]
