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| Rains play havoc
400 killed in KP, 34 in Punjab, roads, bridges damaged
F.P. Report |
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| PESHAWAR: As may as 400 people have been killed, dozens others are missing and thousands rendered homeless as devastating floods continue in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, official sources said Friday.
While, in Punjab during the current spell of torrential rains and floods at least 34 people lost their lives and more than 100 were injured besides affecting 70,610 villagers and damaging 156,090 acres standing crops across the province.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hundreds of houses, link and main bridges and link roads have been either completely washed away by floodwaters or damaged and submerged hundreds of houses in areas along rivers and other areas.
“More than 300 people have been killed and many are still missing,” official sources said. The torrential rains for the past three days have played havoc in the cities of Nowshera, Tank, Balakot and Peshawar.
The rainy spell is expected to continue for another two to three days, but its intensity will be weakening gradually after Saturday. According to Met Department, isolated rain will continue in KP over the next 24 hours, while flood situation in low lying areas of Peshawar and Nowshera will ease after peak on Friday/Saturday.
The weather pundits said the rains will cause further landslides at many major and link roads and flash flooding is likely in streams of Malakand and Hazara divisions during next 36 hours.
Meanwhile, Ghazi Barotha Project Wapda’s vehicle carrying five people including senior Wapda officers fell into Ghazi Barotha Power Channel and drowned on Friday.
Search for the vehicle and drowned officers was under way under the supervision of General Manager GBHP but no clue could be found till the filing of this report. According to reports Personal Staff Officer (PSO) to the Chairman Wapda Brig (Retd) Mukhtar Ahmed was on his visit to Ghazi Barotha Project to examine the situation of GBHP created due to the recent rains on the instructions of Chairman Wapda.
On Friday, he along with General Manager GBHP Malik Asif Javed and some other senior officers, was on way from Hattian to Barotha on service road of GBHP along with the Power Channel in three vehicles to visit the GBHP sites. When they reached near Kamara at RD-43 the last vehicle of the carvan No. AK-5680, a Land Rover which was carrying five people, including Technical Director Munawar Hussain Tarrar (belonging to Gujranwala), Deputy Director Akhtar Ali Shah (belonging to Mansehra), Assistant Director Abdul Wasif (belonging to Wah Cantt) and Cameraman Khawaja Amjad Iqbal (belonging to Ghazi Tarbela) and driver Muhammad Waheed (Attock), slipped and fell into 30 feet deep, 300 feet wide Ghazi Barotha Power Channel.
When General Manager GBHP Malik Asif Javed was informed by the security staff, he immediately turned his vehicle back and rushed to the incident spot but no vehicle or any person was seen there in the deep and very fast running water.
General Manager GBHP Malik Asif Javed immediately declared emergency in the Ghazi Barotha Project and issued red alert.
Search for the drowned vehicle and people was started immediately under the supervision of General Manager Malik Asif Javed himself.
Further help of the divers from Mangla Dam, Tarbela Dam and Army has been sought.
It is worth mentioning here that Power channel of GBHP is concrete lined more than 30 feet deep, 300 feet vide and 52 kilometer long in which 56,000 cusecs water flows with a speed of 2.33 meter per second which is much faster than other canals and rivers due to its bed slop design.
General Manager Ghazi Barotha Malik Asif Javed and other officers and officials have expressed a sorrow on this unfortunate incident.
The unprecedented spree of heavy downpours continued in Gilgit-Baltistan, rendering adjoining areas cut-off from other parts of the country.
Spill over from River Swat has entered into River Kabul resulting in submerging Nowshera cantonment and other areas in water trapping thousands of people in floodwater, who are awaiting help from the government. District Headquarter Hospital was also seen flooded by many feet.
In Balakot, two persons were reported killed and dozens of makeshift homes were damaged by high flood in River Kunhar and its tributaries.
Three bridges, Balakot Police Station and Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and Post Office received severe damage by the flooded River Kunhar, which washed away parts of the buildings and the main bazaar of the town have already been vacated.
Meanwhile, hundreds of tourist families, spending vacations in Kaghan Valley have been trapped as Balakot-Naran Road remained blocked for the second day on Friday due to land sliding at several places.
In Tank city flash floods washed away 250 houses rendering thousands of people in Main Bazaar Tank, Qutab Colony, Mohallah Mehsudaan, Gulshan Colony and Mohallah Qasaban, homeless.
The area has been disconnected from rest of the country with road link. Three major roads leading to South Waziristan, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan have been submerged by the flood water and portions at several areas have been washed away by the floods.
Local sources said no official assistance has arrived in the area, while the locals were assisting in the rescue efforts.
Many link bridges have been washed away, rendering many areas cut-off from other parts of cities and districts and leaving scores of people trapped at isolated places.
Heavy showers have inflicted havoc, devastation in Swat and Shangla districts as furious floodwater in River Swat and its tributaries has damaged many houses and standing crops.
As many as 25 people have been swept way by floodwater in Swat alone while Kabal, Matta, Bari Kot, Charbagh, Khwaza Khela, Behrin and Babuzai areas are no longer connected with other parts of country owing to destruction of link bridges.
Floodwater has demolished numerous shops and houses in Kalam whereas land sliding, in Surkhel Balabanda locality of Batagram, has killed three brothers and sisters.
A major bridge, a main road and dozens of houses were inundated after water over spilled from River Indus entered the residential areas in Thakot.
Hundreds of houses have been inundated by floodwater at Kasar in Kohistan district, while 10 people are missing.
In Kohat, 12 dead bodies have been pulled out from the rubble after the Jurma Bridge collapsed following the floods.
Four people have been drowned in floodwater in Nowshera District, while over 25 people are still missing.
Doctors, paramedical staff and patients trapped in District Headquarters Hospital climbed the rooftop after floodwater inundated the hospital up to many feet.
A total of 780 houses, 34 school buildings, six main bridges, 28 link bridges, 11 mosques and thousands of acres of cultivated land have been washed away by floodwater at isolated places in Upper Dir.
Lightening destructed more than 50 houses at Deerbala, private news channel reported.
At least 11 persons including six children died following the collapse of house in Lower Dir while another 21 persons were swept away by floodwater.
Nearly nine persons died and 42 others were injured after floodwater, flowing out from River Swat and Jindi river entered into residential areas of Charsadda District.
Five children have drowned in floodwater in Bannu District while over 40 houses collapsed in Tehsil Bara in Khyber Agency.
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, Friday announced that as an initial response to the floods in Pakistan, the U.S. government is immediately making seven helicopters available to assist the government in its relief efforts.
"The heavy monsoon rains have caused much suffering," said Ambassador Patterson, adding "we are working with Pakistan's government to review urgent humanitarian needs and hope to announce additional assistance very soon."
Twenty helicopters of Pak Army, besides a number of boats are actively engaged in rescue activities across the province and out of which ten are engaged in Peshawar valley; four each in Dera Ismail Khan and Swat and two in Kohat to evacuate the people.
Besides, five out of 100 boats of Pak Navy have already reached Akora Khattak and are actively engaged in the rescue operation while the remaining are in the freight process and expected to reach shortly.
Torrential rains have also exposed the dishonesty of road constructors in Khyber Agency. The first rain washed away the black topping surface of the roads in Landikotal sub-division. Black oil mixed with sands failed to resist the torrential rains, the transporters alleged, saying the contractors used bad quality material in repairing the roads that could not stand one rain.
Mian Shinwari said that the NHA and the local contractors were not serious to repair the Pak Afghan high way on strong basis.
The high way from Peshawar to Torkham presents a destroyed look that has multiplied miseries of the tribal and Afghan transporters, he added. The quality tar is not used to stick sands to the road, he maintained.
Mingora's communication links with other parts have been broken after collapse of Mingora Bridge while flood water entered the area.
The flash floods and buildings' collapse caused by heavy rains, over flowed canals, thunder lights and stormy drainage nullahs, killed 48 people in Swat, Shangla, Dir and Dera Ismail Khan.
Two brothers drowned at the bank of Swat River in Khawaza Khela while a father and a son died by thunderlight strike at Chagum in Shangla district.
An old bridge collapsed at University road Kohat and so far the rescue teams have recovered 18 dead bodies from its debris.
The local General Secretary of Awami National Party, Asma Nawaz, was killed in a roof collapse at Dakbetoot area in Nowshera.
More than 50 houses were destroyed due to lightning in Gorkoi and Sheri Darra areas of Lower Dir. So far 25 bodies have been taken out from the debris.
The Karakoram Highway, which links Pakistan to China, was closed as rains washed away a bridge in Shangla district, also cutting off Gilgit-Baltistan from other parts of the country.
Bridges were washed away and areas cut off as heavy rains swept away roads and disrupted communications.
At least 29 people, including women and children, died Friday when a landslide hit their houses in Shangla, police said.
The landslide caused by heavy monsoon rain destroyed 11 houses on a mountain in Shangla district. Fazlullah Khan, a local member parliament said 34 people were killed.
"A rescue operation is under way. Bad weather is a big hurdle," he added.
The army has been summoned to tackle the problems caused by the flood waters, with the northwestern Swat and Malakand districts, the hardest hit.
Army have sent boats to rescue stranded people and its engineers were attempting to open roads and divert the waters from key routes.
Meanwhile, 20 Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project have been rescued from Shangla.
In Astore, eight bridges collapsed due to heavy rain ruining crops besides damaging infrastructure. |
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