Flash floods devastate Upper, Lower Chitral

CHITRAL/MANSEHRA: The flashfloods triggered by glacial lake outburst floods (Glofs) in Upper Chitral and Lower Chitral swept away dozens of houses, bridges, roads, crops and fruit orchards on Saturday.

The floods washed away half of a dozen bridges and disconnected the two towns of Booni, the headquarters of Upper Chitral. The massive floodwater currents blocked the Yarkhun river for several hours and later it receded while the Chitral river was in high flood. The flashflood also destroyed fruit orchards in Harchin village of Upper Chitral. An emergency has been declared in Upper Chitral and a tent village has been established in the pologround in Booni to facilitate people.

In Lower Chitral, the floods devastated large swaths of the area, including Madaklasht, Shishi Koh in Tar, Karas, Teingeer, and other villages and towns.

Dozens of families were affected by the floods in these areas while 20 families were displaced. Power pylons and water irrigation channels were also washed away by floods.

The district administration has asked the residents of low-lying areas to be vigilant and shift to safer places in case of an emergency caused by possible rains and the subsequent flooding.

Meanwhile, the authorities decided to reconstruct the bridge and open the lake created after flashfloods blocked Kunhar River near Mahandri.

“We have dual challenges. We have to build a bridge and to find out ways to open the artificial lake in a safe way,” Deputy Commissioner Adnan Khan Bhittani told reporters after a meeting. The technical teams of NHA and other departments also attended the meeting.

“We have made three attempts to install a temporary passage at the Manor stream but failed as the torrents had washed away pipes and other materials,” Bhittani said.

He said that an alternative appropriate portion was being selected to reconstruct the bridge, which would most probably take 10 to 15 days.

Also, the locals installed a Zipline at the site

where the bridge had been washed away earlier this week to evacuate stranded tourists in the Manor valley.

The local traders, whose shops were washed away in Mahandri during recent flashfloods, demanded the government to ensure an early reopening of the road after a reconstructed bridge at Manor stream.