Landslides triggered by cloudburst wreak havoc in Kaghan

Ag NNI

MANSEHRA/DIR: Cloudburst wreaked havoc in Kaghan valley as four people, including two tourists, were buried alive and thousands of others remained stranded for more than 24 hours after the blockade of road between Jalkhad and Baravai in the valley on Thursday night.

“We have retrieved bodies of two tourists from their vehicle, which were buried along with another one under a mudslide. Efforts are underway to recover bodies of two other local people,” Aurangzeb Haider Khan, the deputy commissioner, told reporters on Friday.

The landslides triggered by a cloudburst in upper parts of Kaghan valley blocked Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road to traffic in eight places, which left thousands of tourists and passengers travelling between Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in over 2,000 vehicles stranded all the night and on Friday.

The muddy water was flowing on Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road, hampering the rescue and relief operation.

The children and women suffered a lot braving severe cold near the mountains capped with snow.

A tourist told reporters that because of the inefficiency of National Highway Authority (NHA), the blocked portion of MNJ road couldn’t be reopened timely and as a result thousands of tourists and passengers suffered in the severe cold during the night.

“There was no food and eateries, which created problems for stranded people, particularly women and children,” stated Shahid Humayun, a district councillor who was among the people stranded.

He said that NHA was responsible for hardships suffered by stranded tourists and passengers as machinery was not moved timely to clear the roads.

The deputy commissioner said bodies of two tourists stated to be members of the same family, including Shamim Akhtar and Abid Jawad hailing from Punjab were retrieved and efforts to pull bodies of the two other people were still in progress.

“Now the road has been cleared to traffic and passengers and tourists stranded in the affected areas would leave for their respective destinations as soon as possible,” he added.

He said that passengers and tourists in over 2000 vehicles were stranded after cloudburst that triggered landslides in the valley.

Our correspondent adds from Dir: A house was washed away in Kumrat, a picturesque tourist spot, in Upper Dir and potato crop on a vast area was destroyed due to a flash flood caused by a cloudburst on Thursday night.

Hundreds of tourists going to Kumrat valley were stranded due to blockage of Kumrat Road.

They spent the night in vehicles on the road as many were accommodated in hujras by the locals.

Locals said the flash flood blocked the Kumrat Road at Malo and Thal.

They said the flash flood had brought with it slush and it couldn’t be removed without heavy machinery.

The tehsil administration of Kalkot removed the slush from the road and cleared it to traffic partially after 15 hours. However huge stones and other material were still lying at sides of the road.

Tehsil Nazim of Kalkot Malik Tajbar Khan oversaw the rescue operation. It was learnt that the potato crop on thousands of acre of land was also destroyed by the flood.

The residents and affected farmers said that they had suffered losses running into millions of rupees.

More monsoon rains have been predicted by the met department in the next couple of days. The residents demanded the district administration and provincial government provide heavy machinery to clear the blocked roads.

Meanwhile, a meeting was held in Charsadda with District Police Officer Irfanullah Khan in the chair to review the arrangements to cope with the likely food.

The meeting directed all the TMAs to stay alert to cope with any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, according to Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the current rain spell is expected to last till Saturday.It is reported that at least five people have so far died in separate incidents followed by heavy downpour in Rawalpindi and Lahore. As per rescue sources, one woman along with her one-year boy lost her life as rainwater flooded the house basement in Rawalpindi. Moreover, a young boy lost his life at Sehala Bridge. In Lahore, a couple was killed while three other people sustained injuries in a house collapse incident at Leel village at Ring Road.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson for National Disaster Management Authority Brigadier Mukhtar Ahmad said riverine flooding is expected in the Indus, Chenab and Ravi rivers due to the recent rains. He warned people living in the river bed to remain alert of any untoward situation.

He added that people are also being evacuated from the areas wherever required. Brigadier Mukhtar Ahmed said NDMA, Rescue 1122, WASA and police have been put on alert for quick response to any emergency of the rain-caused flood situation.

The NDMA spokesman said the current weather system, which came from the Arabian Sea, is affecting Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore regions. He said from Friday, another weather system will emerge from the Arabian Sea, which will affect Karachi and Balochistan.