CHITRAL: The devastating flash floods across Chitral this summer have caused influx of people out of the district in search of jobs in other parts of the country during the winter season.

The unprecedented number of passengers travelling to Peshawar is three times the number travelled last year, said Noor Daraz, the manager at the city bus stand.

He said normally five to seven passenger coaches left from the stand on daily basis to Peshawar, but the number increased to over 20 during the past couple of weeks. He said owing to rush the management of the bus stand faced shortage of vehicles to accommodate passengers.

He said that a good number of passengers also travelled to Upper Dir by jeeps, taxi cars and other private vehicles.

Means of employment usually dry up in the district in winter rendering labourers jobless.

According to a survey conducted by a non-government organisation some years ago in one of the union councils of upper Chitral over 80 per cent of the unemployed youth left the villages to seek employment in other parts of the country during winter.

These people returned home towards the end of spring season to work in agriculture fields.

Mazhar Ali, working on a poverty alleviation project with an NGO, said 50 per cent households derived their income by sending one or more male members to the down country in the winter season as the means of employment in the area become limited during the period.

He said the flash floods had weakened the already staggering financial position of the people.

“They cannot rely on a bag of wheat flour and rice given to them by NGOs for sustenance,” said Mr Ali, adding people of Chitral mostly depended on agricultural, but it was adversely affected by the floods.

He said livestock also got perished in the flash floods, depriving people of their source of living.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2015

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