CHITRAL: A glacial lake outburst flood devastated a large part of Sorech village in the Upper Chitral district on Wednesday morning, leaving 30 families homeless.

The villagers rushed to safety after being alerted by announcements from mosques, but the flood still caught them off-guard.

Former village council nazim Sher Bahadur told Dawn that the glacial lake exploded at around 6am, and the flood hit the upper part of the village within 15 minutes, forcing residents to flee to the higher ground.

He said a man, a woman, and two children were swept away by floodwaters amid chaos, but divers rescued the children and shifted them to the tehsil headquarters hospital in Shagram, where their condition was out of danger.

Flash floods destroy roads, bridges, crops in parts of KP

The former nazim said the village, which had 85 households, had been severely affected, with half of the homes either destroyed or damaged.

He said Glof hit the village for the first time.

When contacted, local deputy commissioner Abdul Haseeb Khan said an additional assistant commissioner had led a team with food and non-food items to the troubled village as the administration’s first response to the natural calamity.

He said further aid would be sent in light of need assessment.

Meanwhile, thousands of tourists, mostly women and children, remained stranded in Kaghan and Manor valleys of Mansehra district on Wednesday due to the destruction of a bridge on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road in the Mahandri area by flash floods.

The tourists complained they’re struggling to cope with the aftermath of the flooding, which was triggered by the monsoon downpour on Tuesday.

The residents of Manor Valley insisted that they’re cut off from the rest of the district due to a delay in the rehabilitation of four bridges, which were washed away in the floods.

Mr Aziz said Manor Valley was hit by food shortages as all roads and bridges, including the main bridge at the MNJ Road, were washed away by floodwaters.

He also revealed the destruction of five turbines installed on local streams to supply electricity to parts of the valley.

The resident said bodies of a woman and her son swept away in floods had yet to be recovered.

He feared more damage to public life and property in the days ahead due to the downpour forecast.

Adviser to the chief minister Zahid Chanzeb and local MPA Munir Hussain Lughmani visited Mahandri residents and assured them of the government’s support.

The district administration insisted that more than 2,500 visitors, mostly women and children, were still stranded in the Kaghan Valley.

District police officer Shafiullah Gandapur said the entry of tourists to Kaghan and neighbouring Manor valley through the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road, Hazara Expressway and Karakoram Highway had been restricted until the reconstruction of the Mahandri Bridge.

Meanwhile, four young men, who were trapped in the middle of the Kunhar River while catching wooden beams from floodwaters, were rescued in the Shawal area of Balakot here on Wednesday.

Amir Khadam of Rescue 1122 told reporters that the emergency service’s divers carried out the rescue operation, bringing Rizwan Hussain, 12, Zain Siraj, 14, Sufyan Shaukat, 15, and Hamad Sadiq, 15, out of the river.

The Upper Swat Development Authority on Wednesday restored a bridge on the Jalbanr stream, restoring traffic to and from Kalam Valley.

Saeedur Rehman, a spokesman for the authority, said the bridge was washed away by flooding on Tuesday evening.

USDA deputy director Karamat Ali said the bridge had been repaired and reopened to traffic within 24 hours of destruction.

He said the main Kalam-Bahrain Road was restored.

Tourists confirmed the reopening of the road and said they didn’t face any difficulty in reaching their destinations.

In Bajaur tribal district, flooding destroyed private properties and damaged maize, tomato and other crops.

Residents and officials told Dawn that flash floods washed away a restaurant and a stone crushing unit in Mamund tehsil’s Shago and Thani areas, respectively.

They also revealed the destruction of walls around agricultural lands and the damage to maize, tomatoes and other vegetable crops on the riverside in Shago and its adjacent areas.

The residents said the floods had damaged three brigades in Jar and Shinkoot areas of Khar tehsil and Gardai area of Utmankhel.

They said the flash floods also damaged links roads in the remote areas of Mamund and Salarzai tehsils, and disrupted electricity in some hilly areas.

Swabi residents complained that drains, including those in the district headquarters, were choked after heavy rains, causing inundation of the roads, especially Swabi-Jehangira Road, to the inconvenience of motorists, motorcyclists and pedestrians.

They said floodwaters entered shops in Topi markets, destroying goods.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2024