Rain, snowfall wreak havoc in parts of KP

MANSEHRA/DIR/MINGORA: The continuous rains and snowfall wreaked havoc in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday as roads were swept away, crops destroyed and glaciers rolled down at three points in Upper parts of Hazara.

The Kaghan Valley received heavy snowfall out of the blue turning the weather cold once again across the district. The snowfall started in the early hours and continued the entire day intermittently.

“The valley experienced snowfall from Naran to Babusar Top, Barawai and nearby mountains,” Mohammad Fareed, a resident of Balakot, told reporters.

Three mega glaciers, including Kali Mitti, Lambi Patti and Chitta Khatta rolled down on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road, blocking it to all sorts of traffic.

The MNJ road also links Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit-Baltistan.

Because of the snowfall and continued rains in the Kaghan Valley and the rest of the Balakot tehsil the Kunhar River and Manor stream swelled up to an alarming position. The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) installed a temporary bridge at Ichar Nullah in Upper Kohistan, restoring traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The temporary bridge, which was built at Ichar Nullah after a concrete bridge was swept away by flash floods in August last, was swept away the other day suspending traffic between both federating units.

Passengers, who were stranded in Upper Kohistan, left for respective destinations in the country after the FWO personnel made the temporary arrangements on the Karakoram Highway.

In Lower Kohistan, the roads leading to many villages and towns were swept away by flood in the Kiyal and other local streams.

Assistant Commissioner Gul Shahzad and officials of the Works and Communication Department visited the affected areas.

The rains continued on a third consecutive day in Mansehra, Torghar, Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan, Kolai-Palas and Torghar districts, destroying the standing crops and affecting routine life.

DIR: A child was killed and a woman was injured when the roof of a house collapsed in the Bin Darra area of the Barawal tehsil in Upper Dir.

Police said the mud-house caved in in the far-off mountainous area of Bin Darra after a heavy rain, burying the inmates alive.

The locals reached the spot soon after the incident and launched rescue work.

They said that child succumbed to the injuries while an injured woman was shifted to the hospital.

MINGORA: The flood affectees from Kalam and Bahrain staged a protest at Nishat Chowk in Mingora city against the failure of the government to take steps to reopen the Kalam-Bahrain road to traffic, which was blocked due to heavy flooding in the Swat River.

Chanting slogans against the government, the flood affectees had gathered at the Nishaq Chowk in Mingora city to record their protest.

Addressing the protesters, Zahid Khan, Dr Khalid Mahmood, Malik Ghazan Khan and others said that the Kalam-Bahrain road had been blocked to traffic due to the incompetence of the previous provincial government.

They said that water from the Swat River was flowing on the roads and had inundated homes in Bahrain, which had caused a host of problems for the local people.

The protesters asked the government to take emergency steps to reopen the Kalam-Bahrain road to traffic before Eidul Fitr or else they would be compelled to extend their protest to other parts of the district. They said that Kalam Road was also blocked due to the flooding beyond Bahrain, adding that this had also created the shortage of the food items there.