KKH blocked for last four weeks

DUBAIR: The blockade of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) for the last 28 days as a result of the ongoing flood calamity has led to severe problems for commuters and locals of Kohistan.

Hundreds of vehicles are stranded between Dubair and Dassu where at least four bridges have been completely destroyed. Long queues of vehicles, especially the heavier ones, can be witnessed in Dubair where about a kilometre of the KKH has been washed away.

Although the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) has started repairing the KKH, locals say the pace of work is very slow. The road connecting Besham and Dassu has also been damaged at various points while the condition of the highway between Besham and Dubair is not any good either. According to District Police Officer Kohistan Muhammad Illyas, the KKH is clear from Dassu onwards.

Illyas said that heavy rains and flood on July 28 caused major destruction in Pattan, Dubair and Kandian, with 69 deaths confirmed besides a huge financial loss. He said the Kandian Valley was badly affected by the torrents while the rest of Kohistan still remains cut off.

The heavy losses to property have not been caused as much by the Indus River as by several canals near the area. The Dubair canal, for instance, led to the devastation of Dubair Bazar consisting of hundreds of shops and quarters.

“Houses of two former MNAs Malik Said Ahmed Khan and Malik Aourangezeb were also swept away by the floods,” PPP Kohistan’s secretary Saif-ul-Malook told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2010.