Work on flood protection schemes completed in Chitral village

CHITRAL: Authorities have completed work on various schemes meant to protect people of Arkari valley in Chitral district from devastating floods that hit the area frequently in summers and washed away homes, rendering many homeless and aggravating their poverty.

Carried out by Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, the massive bulwark erected on the northern side of Sufaid Arkari village of the valley coupled with the schemes of the rehabilitation works of drinking water supply and roads have been completed recently.

Situated close to the Terich Mir peak of Hindukush mountainous range, the valley is known for its vulnerability to the flash floods and glacial lake outburst floods, which devastated it in the years 1929, 1977, 1988 and 2017.

The residents of the area consisting of about 200 households said that with the advent of summer season, they remained on guard fearing the outburst of glacial lake and the inundation of the stream due to the melting of glaciers adjacent to the valley.

Gul Akbar Khan, the president of the valley’s council, said that the dwellers of the valley would have fair sleep during the coming summer due to the bulwark project which has capped the passageway of the flood water and debris to the village in Dir Gol.

He said that as a result of the melting of glaciers in the catchment area, the local stream remained in high flood for two months of the season, which ran off to the agricultural farms and apple orchards every year.

Sher Rahim, a community activist, said that lives of the villagers would now change for the better and the project was not merely an embankment work against flood, but tantamount to a habitat plan which has an overwhelming effect on the village settlement.

He said it was a long-awaited project of the village, in which local people were fully included and the local knowledge and virtue were also enlisted to make it resilient to the flood and inundation of water.