Tariq Saeed Peshawar
As the torrential rains coupled with heavy floods and land sliding continued wreaking havoc in parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four more people were reported killed on Sunday taking the death toll to those killed in the last 48 hours to nine with seven people receiving serious injuries.
Besides, around seventy houses were damaged partially while seven houses destroyed completely. Chitral district remained hard hit where around sixty houses were damaged due to rains and heavy floods as emergency has been declared in both upper and lower Chitral. According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Chitral Lower’s vulnerable residents had already been relocated to safer areas, and the district administration had cleared the Dir Lower road of obstructions to traffic. A dry ration of food had also been given to the affected households.
On Sunday at least two people were killed when an avalanche rolled over their house in scenic valley of Bahrain in Swat. Reports reaching here say five people were buried under tons of clay as the Army supervised rescue teams retrieved three people alive from the debris in serious condition.
According to the officials the district administration dispatched heavy equipment to restore the roads quickly. The road at Koghuzi has already been opened to traffic. The Dir Upper district government has opened a one-way street.
On the instructions of the Relief Department, District Administration, PDMA, Rescue 1122, Civil Defense, and related institutions are on alert, a spokesman of the Relief Department said. The spokesman added that relief materials have been provided to the affected families of Upper Chitral and a detailed assessment of the damage will begin as soon as the flood waters recede in Lower Chitral.
Meanwhile, PDMA had issued a letter to all concerned institutions and district administration besides giving on-the-spot instructions to take precautionary measures regarding rains, flash floods, urban flooding, and flooding in rivers.
DG Rescue 1122 said that people trapped in the Kabul River were also rescued by boats. The Rescue 1122 officials also conducted a search operation by scuba diving. On the other hand the Security forces continued relief activities in flood-hit parts of Swat, Dir and Chitral after the communication system was affected in the nearby areas after the water level rose in the Panjkora River. Likewise an under-construction bridge was partially damaged in Shamsi Khan due to land-sliding. In other landslide incidents, Kalakot, Sheringal and Kumrat Roads were also damaged.
A bridge washed away in floods after heavy rainfall in Chitral’s Buni area. Contingents of security forces reached the affected areas with heavy machinery to make alternative routes for public movement. The security forces also continued rescue and relief operations in Swat and Shangla and restored roads and communications systems. The contingents have also provided food and water to the residents of the affected areas.
