Relentless rains kill 12 more in K-P

PESHAWAR:

At least 12 people have been killed as flash floods engulfed Swat, Tank, DI Khan, Lakki Marwat and Dir Upper districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Monday.

As per the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) 10 people lost their lives and six were injured in the rains and subsequent flash floods as well as roof collapse incidents. At least eight houses were damaged and three destroyed.

An official of PDMA said that four people were killed in Lower Kohistan flash floods. Two women were killed in Lakki Marwat and one in Dir Lower. Similarly one child was died in Buner.

A 20-year-old man drowned in the Swat River while trying to catch tree logs brought on by floodwater in Swat district’s Fatah Pur area. His body could not be found till late at night.

In Dir Upper a vehicle of tourists was swept away in a flooded nullah which was on its way to Chitral from Balochistan. As a result two women fell unconscious who were shifted to hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.

“In all the districts a search and rescue operation has been launched and relief activities are also underway in which district administration, PDMA and Rescue 1122 are closely cooperating,” PDMA Director General Sharif Hussain said.

He said that Rs80 million had been released for DI Khan in addition to the earlier funds of Rs500 million.

“Four relief camps have been established in DI Khan and more are being set up,” he said, adding that relief goods have been dispatched to Upper Chitral in nine trucks.

“Food packages are being supplied to flood victims including wheat, dry milk, pulses, rice, ghee, spices, tea and sugar,” he added.

Local residents told The Express Tribune that around 60 per cent area of DI Khan has been inundated by floods after heavy downpour on the mountains.

“This is not a flood in the Indus River. Heavy downpour was recorded on the mountains after which all the nullahs and streams are now flowing in high flood and due to encroachments on nullahs floodwater has entered the residential areas,” they said.

“In the past people built their houses far away from the streams and nullahs in order to avoid annual floods but due to increase in land prices, people started encroaching on waterways and streams blocking them completely in the past one decade,” they observed, adding that due to the blocking of these natural drains, water was now entering the villages.

In Swat district, the authorities closed down all schools due to the floods for two days.

Due to unusually heavy rains, the water level in Swat River has been on the rise after which all the buildings located along the river have been vacated for fear of floods. The streams and nullahs are also in high flood.

In Dir Upper two school buildings collapsed due to heavy rains but luckily there was no student or staff present at the time the two structures came crashing down.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2022.