PESHAWAR: At least four persons were killed and nine others received injuries in different areas as heavy rain and snowfall continued to batter Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the second consecutive day on Monday.

Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said that four persons were killed and nine others were injured in separate incidents in Kurram, Lower and Upper Dir and Swat districts.

A house collapse in Afridiabad area of Lower Kurram killed an eight-year-old boy while six other members of the family were injured. Similarly, a woman was killed in a house collapse due to heavy snowfall in Munda area of Lower Dir while another person was killed when a boulder hit a house in Sheringal area of Upper Dir.

Similarly, a teenager was killed in a roof collapse incident in Asheri village of Swat. Two women were injured when verandah of a house collapse in Bara tehsil of Khyber tribal district.

Heavy rain flooded several parts of provincial capital with University Road and Kohat Road being the worst affected. Similarly, rainwater also inundated Charsadda Road and several arteries in interior city and Hayatabad neighbourhood.

Roads remain closed to traffic and supply of power disrupted in different districts

University Road, one of the busiest thoroughfares of the provincial capital, was flooded due to rain and clogged drains, resulting in vehicle breaking down. Commuters had to push their vehicles in knee deep water.

Kohat Road also remained closed to traffic for several hours due to heavy rain. Inundation of Kohat Road also resulted in suspension of feeder route of Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit.

A spokesperson for TransPeshawar said that though the rainwater entered the main corridor near Tehkal on University Road; the service continued without any hiccup.

Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for Rescue 1122, told Dawn that most of the inundation took place due to clogging of drains. “Most of drains were clogged due to plastic and solid waste,” he said.

In Upper Dir, heavy snowfall caused closure of several roads including Lowari Tunnel Road. Army and district administration shifted 148 passengers stranded in snowfall to safe locations while clearing of roads was also in progress. The stranded passengers were also provided with food and blankets by army personnel.

Torrential rain continued in all parts of Lower and Upper Dir for the second consecutive day. The hilltops in both the districts also received a heavy snowfall.

According to local administration, the Lowari Top received more than two feet of snow due to which vehicular traffic to and from Chitral remained suspended.

The administration directed drivers to avoid unnecessary travel to and from upper parts of Dir and Chitral.

Motorists were also directed to use snow-chains in case of emergency. Shahi Top in Lower Dir also received about two feet snow, suspending traffic to upper parts of Jandol. The administration sent machinery for clearing Shahi road.

Mohmand district also continued to receive heavy rain for the second consecutive day on Monday, causing damage to the mud houses.

The roof of a room of the house of local journalist Khanullah in Halimzai tehsil collapsed; however, the family remained safe.

Swat also continued to grapple with adverse weather conditions with heavy snowfall in hilly areas and rainfall in the plains commencing since Sunday morning. The snowfall, affecting upper terrains including Marghuzar, Loysar, Kokarai Jambil, Sangar and other areas, blocked roads leading to Mahodand, Utror, Gabral and beyond.

Snowfall caused damage to electricity lines, leading to power outages of more than 10 hours in several areas. Uprooted electricity poles and fallen power lines disrupted power supply to Malam Jabba, Kishawra, Spino Obo and surrounding areas.

However, tourists from across the country continued to throng Swat to enjoy snowfall.

In Khyber, weather turned frosty and people mostly remained indoors as Tirah valley received the second snowfall of the current winter. Locals told Dawn that the valley received at least one foot of snow, which caused closure of some link roads.

In Abbottabad, Galiyat, Thandiyani, Ayubia and other surrounding hilly areas received heavy snowfall.

All the link roads in Galiyat were closed due to heavy snowfall while Abbottabad-Muree road was closed to traffic from Baragali as the main road received at least more than one foot snow while hills of Mira Jani and Mosa Da Musalla recorded two to three feet snow.

All other link routes including Nathiagali-Bakot road, Nathiagali-Ayubia road, Kozagali-Ayubia road, Sawargali-Lora road and Changagali-Ziarat Masoom road were closed to traffic.

Traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan also remained suspended on Monday after heavy landslide, triggered by rain that blocked Karakoram Highway in Lower Kohistan.

The lower parts of Hazara division in Mansehra, Torghar, Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan and Kolai-Palas received a fresh spell of downpour on the second day, turning the weather cold.

In Shangla, life came to a standstill after heavy snowfall in upper parts of the district while rain continued to lash the plans. Heavy snowfall blocked Bisham-Swat road and other link routes. The supply of electricity was also disrupted by heavy snowfall.

According to Met department, Cherat received 107mm of rain, Dir Upper 92mm, Dir Lower 24mm, Saidu Sharif 83mm, Patan 79mm, Malam Jabba 63mm, Peshawar 61mm, Drosh 58mm, Balakot 56mm, Parachinar 55mm, Mirkhani 51mm, Chitral 44mm, Kakul 37mm and Bannu received 14mm rain.

Met department predicted more rain and thunderstorm.

In Malakand, the house of Ali Akbar collapsed in Madaykhel Mohallah of Batkhela due to heavy rain. continuing for the last three days in Malakand district.

Rescue 1122 officials and locals retrieved four members of the family from debris and shifted them to hospital where doctors said they were in stable condition.

More than 22 passengers were shifted by district administration to Chitral from Dir side of Lowari tunnel as they were stranded there due to heavy snowfall since small hours of Monday.

The passengers were travelling in 35 different vehicles from Peshawar and other cities.

In Bajaur, several houses collapsed due to heavy rain coupled with snowfall. Locals and officials of Rescue said that at least five house collapse incidents were reported from the hilly areas of Nawagai, Mamond and Salarzai tehsils.

However, no casualty was reported.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2024