• Emergency declared in Chitral
• Two sisters buried as landslide sweeps house in Swat, three electrocuted in Punjab, four killed in Skardu
• Kartarpur closure extended
• NDMA says more rains expected

CHITRAL/MANSEHRA: At least nine people were killed in rain-related incidents and landslides in Khyber Pakht­unkhwa, Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan as rains continued to lash several parts of the country on Sunday, triggering landslides, sweeping away homes and shops and blocking roads for several hours.

At least four people were critically injured after a house collapsed in Mansehra on Sunday, as a fresh spell of rain inundated thousands of houses, shops and blocked major roads in the district, while the government declared an emergency in Lower and Upper Chitral districts until Aug 15.

In Lower Dir, thousands of motorists and passengers suffered for more than 15 hours after floods swept away two under-construction culverts over a stream in the Talash area on Saturday night.

Heavy rainfall coupled with windstorms hit parts of Shangla, triggering floods in the Shangla rivers and damaging several roads and trees.

Heavy rains also battered several parts of Balochistan, damaging road links with other provinces. The caretaker government in Punjab on Sunday put the province on high alert following possible floods in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the closure of the Karta­rpur corridor by India entered its fourth day on Sunday, depriving thousands of pilgrims of visiting the site and pay rituals.

Nine lives lost

The nine people who lost their lives included two sisters, Andleeb and Shahista, whose house was struck by a massive landslide in Swat’s Madyan Valley late Saturday night.

Besides, three people, including a minor girl, died from electrocution in Punjab’s Pakpattan and Arifwala areas. In Skardu, four members of a family perished when a landslide hit their car on the Juglot-Skardu Road near the Shangus area.

Emergency in Chitral

In Lower and Upper Chitral, hectic efforts continued to restore communication, water supply and irrigation infrastructure damaged in Saturday’s flash floods. In Upper Chitral, the road leading to the Yarkhoon valley remained closed for the seventh day at Brep, which had been hit by a high flood in the river because of melting glaciers in Broghil.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief secretary, Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, flew to Chitral by helicopter and held meetings with the representatives of the affected people in Chitral and Booni.

He announced the imposition of emergency in both districts until Aug 15 so that the rehabilitation of the flood-hit infrastructures could be ensured.

In Mansehra, four people were critically injured when a house collapsed, as the Oghi town and its suburbs were flooded. “The rainwater entered over 1,000 shops, halting commercial activity,” Hafeezur Rehman, the district head of Rescue 1122, told Dawn.

The rain, which began in parts of Mansehra on Friday, claimed five lives on Saturday and left over a dozen injured.

In Lower Dir, the district administration diverted vehicles to the under-construction Kalpani Talash bypass after floods swept away the two culverts, but traffic remained jammed for hours because the bypass was narrow and in bad condition.

In Shangla, a new spell of Monsoon that started on Saturday morning continued for the second consecutive day on Sunday, causing floods in the Khan Khwar, Kana Khwar rivers while damaging of Bisham-Swat road in Ranyal, Spena Kara and Alpuri areas.

Balochistan cut off

In Balochistan, heavy monsoon rains battered several districts on Sunday, damaging road links. Landslides were reported at Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan highway and Fort Minto.

Officials said the monsoon spell, which started two days ago, caused flash floods, affecting traffic and damaging mud houses in Lasbela, Barkhan, Musakhail, Sherani, Qila Saifullah and Awaran.

Heavy rains with thunderstorms were reported in Nasirabad, Sibi, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Ziarat, Zhob, Sherani, Lasbela, Ormara, Gwadar, Pasni, Turbat, Panjgur, Harnai, Duki and Loralai on Sunday.

NDMA calls for pre-emptive steps

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Sunday urged the relevant departments to ensure elaborate pre-emptive measures to manage landslides and urban and flash flooding that might occur due to heavy floods.

The agency said that according to the forecast of the Meteorological department, there was a possibility of heavy to very heavy rains in the country during the next 48 to 72 hours.

In KP, GB and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the risk of landslides, flash flooding and seasonal flooding would continue. A thunderstorm was expected in the south Punjab region of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur, Balochistan Makran and Dera Bugti areas.

Similarly, there was also the risk of flash floods in Balochistan’s districts of Loralai, Kalat, Naseerabad, Sibi and Makran.

Haleem Asad in Lower Dir, Fazal Khaliq in Swat, Umar Bacha in Shangla, Saleem Shahid in Quetta, Khalid Hasnain in Lahore and Jamil Nagri in Gilgit also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023