CHITRAL: It was in late July 2015 when all the roads leading to Chitral city were closed and all the 36 branch valleys in the vast expanse of the district lost contact with each other; there was hardly any road which was fit for use, while over 100 suspension bridges were washed away in different localities.

The series of flash floods, glacial lake outburst floods and thunderstorms had started from July 16 playing havoc with the physical infrastructure across the district. No hamlet was left without sustaining damage in the 300-kilometre long valley starting from Arandu in the south to Baroghil in extreme north. Over 300 houses were damaged, leaving thousands of people homeless and about 46 dead during the monsoon rains spanning over 49 days.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dashed to Chitral along with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and announced to restore the infrastructure of roads, suspension bridges, irrigation channels, water supply schemes and the buildings of schools and hospitals. However, nothing has materialised and it seems that this disaster-hit district has been consigned to oblivion. The prolonged delay in release of the required funds has filled the residents with fears that with the start of the summer season they could pass through the same ordeal again.

They apprehend that the rise of water level in the rivers and streams will make it impossible to rehabilitate the infrastructure already hit by flood disaster. In the absence of proper channelisation of natural watercourses (nullahs), the villages could be inundated by floods, as the debris of last year’s flood devastation was still lying there.

In the restoration phase, only major roads, truck-able bridges, irrigation channels and drinking water supply schemes were made functional by the communication and works (C&W), irrigation and public health engineering departments.

Information gathered from the three departments shows that the number of facilities in the district needing full restoration runs into hundreds. According to the record, the C&W department has spent Rs339 million on restoring Chitral-Booni, Garam Chashma and Bumburate roads along with the reconstruction of truck-able bridge at Muzhgole, while the government has released only Rs291million till yet.

The irrigation department has recently started work on channelisation of 14 natural watercourses at a cost of Rs192 million, while PHED has reportedly spent Rs30 million in restoring the drinking water supply schemes. For the rehabilitation phase, the departments of C&W, irrigation and PHE have set the estimated cost of their projects at Rs1.5 billion, Rs1.2 billion and Rs164 million, respectively. The rehabilitation phase also involves feasibility studies, etc.

A senior engineer working in a government department said on the condition of anonymity that without hiring consultants the departments would be unable to prepare technically sound proposals and then execute them timely. He said that the colossal damage caused by the floods would also necessitate auxiliary staff and extraordinary arrangements for the reconstruction phase.

Sources said that the C&W department had sought Rs208 million for hiring consultants and feasibility study, while the irrigation department had sent a request to the provincial government for release of Rs42 million for the purpose. They said that on the directives of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), the required estimates were submitted to it on emergency basis in September.

Criticising the provincial government, MNA from Chitral Shahzada Iftikharuddin warned if this situation persisted, the communication system across the valley could collapse with during summer season.

“It will be a manmade disaster if the valleys are locked due to the collapse of communication infrastructure,” he said, adding that this sector directly affected all other spheres of life. He said that Rs500 million announced by the prime minister during his visit to Chitral had been released, but the provincial government had not released the needed funds. “I have repeatedly reminded the government to release the funds needed for the rehabilitation of roads and suspension bridges,” he said.

Deputy commissioner, Chitral, Osama Ahmed Warraich was, however, optimistic about the release of required funds, saying that a donors’ moot was being planned to be held in Chitral in which the donors and ambassadors of different countries were being invited so that they could observe the devastation themselves.

When contacted, PDMA spokesman said that a total of Rs640 million had been released directly to the departments of C&W, irrigation and PHE besides Rs500 million to the deputy commissioner till Nov 27, 2015.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2016