UPPER DIR, Sept 3: A survey conducted by the district administration has revealed that the devastating floods claimed 95 lives in the district and inflicted losses worth over Rs2.9 billion.

The survey said that the flashfloods washed away 104 concrete and suspension bridges, 1,288 houses and 270 shops. The people of Upper Dir remained landlocked for a couple of weeks due to destruction of main bridges connecting the district with the rest of the country which created food shortage and hike in prices of daily use commodities.

Several areas of the district were also cut off from other parts of Upper Dir, rendering residents of these areas unable to travel to the district headquarters, Dir. District Coordination Officer Ghulam Muhammad said that people had built wooden bridges across the rivers and stream but they had again been swept away by the second wave of floods. The survey said the flashfloods had also destroyed 652km roads.

It has been estimated that the reconstruction of bridges and roads alone would cost Rs1,300 million. According to the survey, a portion of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University in Sheringal and 47 government-owned schools have been destroyed. The reconstruction of the educational institution, it said, would require Rs700 million.

The floods have also taken its toll on the agriculture land. It said that crops cultivated over 11,000 acres of land had been washed away which caused a loss of over Rs700 million. It said the farmers were facing problems in shifting their onion, potato and other vegetable produce to markets due to the destruction of roads and bridges.

The situation has badly affected the economic condition of farmers. The farmers would probably continue to face difficulties in growing crops as the floods have destroyed 43 irrigation channels. The floodwaters also killed 2,720 cattle head. Authorities said they would need Rs204 million to restore the water courses.

The survey said that 270 shops, 104 electricity poles, 46 water supply schemes, three police stations and police posts have been destroyed. The official survey said that 90 water mills, six tube-wells and 32 heavy generators had also been swept away.

In the far-off areas of Upper Dir, these heavy generators had been producing electricity for domestic use, but now people were without power for the last several weeks.

About deaths caused by the floods, the survey said 95 persons had been killed and dozens were injured. The DCO said that they had received Rs20 million as compensation for 64 deaths. Federal Minister for Safron, Najmuddin Khan, who hails from Upper Dir, claimed the destruction caused by floods was huge than that of Swat and Nowshera.

He complained about media for ignoring in showing the destruction in recent floods. He also showed his displeasure with government for failing to help the people in Dir. He said he would ask the government take measures on priority bases for the reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed by floods.