Razmak, Datta Khel and Shawal have received a record snowfall as a result the entire valleys have been covered by a white snow blanket in North Waziristan tribal district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).
This has attracted thousands of tourists from the adjacent districts of Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan and Karak, creating great hustle and bustle in the district. On the other hand, local residents have been left without electricity, drinking water and even firewood because there is no gas in these valleys and chopping off trees from the local forests is banned.
Talking to The Express Tribune, a local resident Arif said that for outsiders the area is a picnic spot both in winters and summers but for the local residents life is miserable as the snowfall has made movement in the far flung villages difficult and their solar panels have also stopped working due to cloudy skies.
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“There is no electricity in the area and solar panels are not working. Cutting of trees is banned from the local forests so firewood is in limited supply and there is no potable water due to power outage,” he lamented, adding that living there is a nightmare for because of this.
“In the past there was no ban on the cutting of trees so firewood was in abundance and people were well off before the military operations which is no more the case,” he said.
Locals have to fetch water from miles away, he added.
District administration said that Razmak, Makeen and parts of South Waziristan had received several feet of snow in the past few days and this has turned the area into a picnic spot for the tourists.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2022.
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