SWABI, Aug 1: Unlike other districts where people are mostly confined to their houses in this hot summer the residents of Swabi have several canals flowing through the district to enjoy bathing and beat the heat, especially during the ongoing fasting month.

In summer usually a great rush of people could be seen at the main canals, including Tarbela Dam downstream, Indus River site adjacent to Ghazi Barotha project, Kund Park, Hund site near Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway, Gohati Canal, Pump House, Salim Khan Canal and Pehur High Level Canal.

“Our district has the Indus River and several canals where people come to bath on hot summer days, especially during Ramazan,” said Asif Ali of Maneri.

Mr Ali said that he usually come along with some of his friends to Pehur Canal at about 10am and returned home at 6:30pm.

“We will come here till Eid because without electricity it is difficult to continue fasting while staying at home,” said his friend Nizar Ali. He said that they usually enjoyed sitting under the shadows of trees and bathing in cool water of the canal.

Gul Zar Khan of Salim Khan village said that clean and freezing water of Pehur Canal attracted everyone in summer.

Visitors from far-flung areas said that in the fasting month they just come to Tarbela Dam downstream for making the difficult fasting a bit easier while bathing and staying here for many hours.

“We are lucky to have Indus River flowing through our district,” said Amjid Ali of Topi city.

A visit to Pehur Canal and Indus River sites, however, revealed that it were women and children who were confined to their houses to bear the prolonged power outages in this ruthless summer.

“We have noticed that people come here to enjoy cool waters for hours and hours, and towards the evening they start leaving for homes.

A great rush could be seen in the afternoon,” said Safqatullah Khan, a villager living at the bank of Pehur Canal.

However, elders have been warning the youngsters of dangers of drowning. Rahim Dad Khan of Naro Banda said that five days ago four youngsters drowned in Pehur Canal. People said that this year summer was hotter than the previous years.