Avalanche hits hotels, houses in Kaghan valley

MANSEHRA: Several houses, hotels, and electrical turbines were partially destroyed after a glacier rolled down onto them at the Naran-Saiful Muluk road in the Naran area of Kaghan valley.

“No casualties are reported as residents and business owners had migrated to lower parts of Mansehra after Kaghan valley received its first snowfall of the winter season in November last year,” a resident, Qaisar Khan, told reporters in Balakot on Tuesday.

The massive glacier, which had also caused huge financial losses last year, once again detached from nearby mountains, damaging hotels, shops, and houses.“Although the exact extent of damage can only be determined once the glacier is removed, initial estimates suggest that at least five houses, three hotels, and multiple electrical turbines have been destroyed,” Qaisar Khan said.

He explained that local hoteliers had installed turbines along a stream originating from the gushing waters of Saiful Muluk Lake to generate electricity, but many of these were now damaged.He added that Naran, the commercial hub of Kaghan valley, remained under heavy snow.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MPA Munir Hussain Lughmani, while addressing residents in Paras, assured them that the government had taken up the issue of reopening the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad (MNJ) road with the relevant departments.

“Our government aims to promote tourism in Kaghan valley, but this can only happen if the MNJ road, which was blocked in mid-November last year, is swiftly cleared of snow,” he stated.

The traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, which was suspended following the blockade of the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road after heavy snowfall last year, couldn’t be resumed as yet.