17 killed, 38 injured as rain wreaks havoc in K-P

PDMA says 27 minors among injured, 57 houses partially damaged

PESHAWAR: At least 17 people have been killed and 38 injured as torrential rains wreaked havoc across the province during the past one week.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in its report issued on Saturday said at least 57 houses have been caved and majority of deaths have been caused due to house-collapse incidents.

The current spell of rain started on March 4 and would continue during the next 24 hours according to the Metrological Office.

The report said that as many as 27 children were among the injured.

Local authorities in Kohat district said that at least 26 goats were also killed after cattle shed collapsed in the district.

The PDMA further said that Mardan remained the most affect district where at least six people have been killed, followed by Swat district where four people lost their lives in rain-related incidents.

At least two people were killed in Charsadda, Nowshera and Peshawar districts each and one person was killed in Buner district, the report added.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Saturday directed to provide relief items to families affected by rain in Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera districts.

The Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) on Saturday said that the Abbottabad-Murree Road has been closed for all kind of traffic due to heavy snowfall. The GDA in a statement said that efforts were underway to clear the road. The statement further said at least two feet snow was recorded in Donga Gali, Changa Gali and adjacent hilly areas. Land sliding in Toheedabad and Kundal has also been reported and rescue efforts are underway to clear the roads, it added.

In January this year, at least 104 people were killed and 96 injured while 18 houses were completely destroyed and 15 others partially damaged across the country following heavy rains, snowfall and avalanches, according to a report by the National Disaster Management Authority.

Weather forecast

The Met Office said on Saturday that widespread rain-wind and thunderstorm (with a few hailstorm) is expected in the provincial capital, Khyber, Charsadda, Mohmand, Nowshera, Swabi Mardan, Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan, Shangla, Swat, Bunner, Malakand, Upper and Lower Dir, Bajaur, Chitral,  Kohat, Hangu, Orakzai and Kurram districts while at scattered places in Karak, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, North Waziristan, D.I. Khan, Tank and South Waziristan.

The Met Office further said intermittent rain-thundershower¬– moderate to high intensity– is also expected in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan, Shangla, Swat, Upper Dir, Chitral, Bajaur, Bunner, Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda and Mohmand districts. Snowfall may also occur over high mountains in Chitral, Upper Dir, Swat, Kohistan and Mansehra districts, it added. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2020.