August 23, 2006	Wednesday	Rajab 27, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 22: A crisis-like situation persists in the northern most Yarkhun valley of Chitral after the only bridge linking it with other parts of the district near Brep village was washed away by floods in the river about three weeks ago.

Many villages in the Mastuj union council and Laspur valley bordering the Shandur Pass also remain cut off as bridges on the rivers Yarkhun and Laspur have been destroyed. The area people said they had not received any government help to restore the damaged communication infrastructure.

Talking to Dawn on the phone from Chitral, the area people said there was a desperate need of food items and medical supplies as the area lacked basic health care facilities.

They said supply of essential daily-use items including wheat flour had been cut off. The area was also hit by gastroenteritis and people especially children, women and the elderly were facing hardships to reach hospitals in the Chitral town.

Hundred of students who were on summer vacations have been cut off from their institutions situated on the other side of the river, they added.

The people criticised the government and said neither the authorities concerned took precautionary steps to protect the Brep bridge nor after its destruction were ready to reconstruct it.

The over 150-km-long valley of Yarkhun consisting of over 100 villages and hamlets is stretched up to the Wakhan corridor in Afghanistan.

The area is accessible only through the Chitral- Mastuj-Yarkhun road which is a jeep track beyond Booni and often remains blocked due to landslides and stream flooding.