Flash flood: Three-story building collapses, roofs cave in

Newly-constructed bridge in Ramait village washed away.

MINGORA: A three-story building collapsed and roofs of five shops caved in after the Swat River flooded in Kalam on Wednesday. Flash floods also washed away a small newly-constructed bridge in Ramait village, leaving villagers stranded.

The water level in the river continues to rise, keeping residents on their toes. Water overflowed on Mingora Bypass Road near Fizagat area and was closed for traffic by the authorities. The levee protecting the link bridge between Kabal tehsil and Mingora was also damaged.

To avoid large scale destruction, the district administration has started building protection walls along the by-pass road.

Assistant Commissioner Farukh Ateeq also visited sites where work on constructing protection walls is underway. “Big stones are being put along the protection wall to help decrease the intensity of the flood. We are also taking measures to protect residential areas from damage,” he told journalists.



Flood water entered residential areas in Fizagat, but people have already vacated their homes and shifted to safer locations. “If the flood washes away the protection walls along the by-pass road, the water will wreak havoc on the residential areas located closer to it,” said Zahoor Khan, a resident of Hayatabad.

Thousands of acres of agriculture land have already been inundated in Bariko tehsil, Kabal, Khwazakhela, Madyan, Bahrain and Kalam, with heavy losses feared in the sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2013.