SWAT: Frustrated with the government’s lack of urgency, hotel owners in Kalam have joined hands with the locals to restore the flood-damaged road which links the popular tourist site with the rest of the country.

The road was badly damaged by floods twice within a year — first in July and then last month.

People in Bahrain complain that despite repeated protests, the federal and provincial governments remained indifferent. The floods washed away bridges and the Bahrain-to-Kalam road at a number of places, leaving Kalam, Utror and Matiltan cut off from other parts of Swat district.

Zubair Torwali, a social activist and educationist, told Dawn that restoration of the Bahrain-to-Kalam road was vital for locals as well as for tourists. “The bridge on the Daral river has caused many problems and left the people living in upper valleys (of Swat) marooned for a week last month.

“It was restored temporarily and only after vehement protests by the people of Bahrain and Kalam,” he said.

“Yet the people are unhappy with the condition of the main road in Bahrain. It could soon come under water as snow has already started melting on the mountains.”

According to Zubair Torwali, the activist, there had been negligible progress so far on the rehabilitation front in flood-affected areas. So the people of Kalam started repairing the road by collecting money from owners of hotels and shops.

He said almost 200 houses, shops, and hotels were damaged during the recent floods and the government should compensate owners so that they make a fresh start.

“The devastating floods of last year not only washed away hotels, shops, and houses but also swept away agricultural lands. The floods washed away several bridges and the Bahrain-to-Kalam road at five places,” said Aziz Kalami, a social activist.

He said the residents of Kalam and hotel owners held jirgas and met government officials, but no rehabilitation and restoration work was done. “When we got disillusion­ed with the government, we start collecting money and then made the road usable for small vehicles,” Kalami said.

Abdul Wadood, who heads the Kalam Hotel Association, said “we have now rented two excavators and a few trucks” on self-help basis to make the vital road usable for buses and trucks as well so that tourists and traders could come to the region.

“There are encouraging signs that bigger vehicles will be able to come to Kalam within a few weeks. Tourists and business people will then hopefully be able to visit our enchanting valleys once again,” Wadood said.

“The people of Kalam are working voluntarily in the restoration work as they are fed up with the authorities’ neglect of their region.”

Kalam and adjacent valleys are the largest producers of off-season vegetables like potatoes, turnips, cabbages, peas, and different salad items. “Our area produces the best vegetables in the country and is the main supplier to the hotel industry in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore,” said a beaming Wadood.

Multiple attractions

The floods swept away a large proportion of agricultural lands on the one hand and on the other, the harvested produce could not be transported to towns and cities due to road closure,“ said Qasim Khan, who owns a farm in Utror.

“Upper Swat offers multiple attractions. It has pleasant weather, lush green meadows, roaring waterfalls, glacial lakes and thick cedar forests,” Azmat Hussain, a trekker from Lahore, told Dawn. “We visit Kalam for trekking and camping every year, but could not do so this year as the road beyond Bahrain is in bad shape.”

He added, “So we dropped our plans for Kalam and opted for Naran instead.”

Residents, hoteliers, and tourists are unanimous in their condemnation of the authorities, but at the same say all is not lost and that the administration can still win their hearts and minds by getting down to work with sincerity.

Restoration and rehabilitation projects are badly needed in Bahrain Tehsil, particularly in places beyond the Bahrain bazaar, as more than 30,000 people in Mankiyal, Pishmal, Kalam, Utror, Gabral, Ushu and Matiltan remain isolated from the plains.

The residents called upon the government to immediately start work on restoration of parts of the road washed away by floods and build protection walls along the Swat River and its tributaries to protect towns and villages from further destruction.

Muhammad Ali Shah, the KP caretaker Minister for Communications and Works, said planning for the Kalam road was in progress while construction work on other roads had started.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2023