20 found dead in flood-hit Chitral

Zahiruddin Published July 26, 2015

CHITRAL: At least 20 bodies were retrieved from water channels on Saturday morning in five villages of Chitral district that had been devastated by flash floods the previous day. Eight of the victims were members of one family of Uthool, a village near Mulkhow.

The raging floodwaters swept away about 200 houses and an identical number of shops across the district, compounding misery in a region that has suffered the most during the ongoing flood disaster traumatising the nation.

The sudden deluge caught the villagers unprepared and they had no time to escape the gushing waters.

The area had been cut off from the rest of the district for the past fortnight after its only road link was washed away at Kuragh.

The eight of the same family who perished were identified as Izharul Haq, Alima Bibi, Anwaz Bibi, Jamila Bibi, Rahimul Haq, Misbahul Haq, Ihtiramul Haq and Ihtishamul Haq.

Haidar Hussain, Khalida Bibi, Shahnaz Bibi, Mehnaz Bibi, Zahid Abbas, Shahria, Naveeda, Javeka, Muhammad Amin, wife of Wali Khan and the wife of Sher Habib died in Saht.

Uthool and Saht have so far suffered the biggest number of dead and injured.

Maulana Javed Hussain, a member-elect of the district council, complained that no official of the local administration had visited the area. “People are facing shortage of food and safe drinking water,” he bemoaned.

He said food could only be airdropped in the affected area because the suspension bridge connecting it with the rest of the country was carried off by furious water channels on Friday evening.

Maulana Javed criticised the lawmakers concerned, saying they had not bothered to even offer some words of comfort to a populace in distress.

According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Disaster Management Authority, 500 tents and 1,000 food packages weighing 40 tons have been distributed among the survivors.

Meanwhile, military helicopters carried out four sorties in the affected areas on Saturday, evacuated some marooned people and took the body of a child found near Chitral to his native town for burial.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2015

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Blue Saffron

Jul 26, 2015 08:02am

So so sad. We need a better disaster management plan. We need more modern equipment. We need better trainec personnel. Will we ever learn? What is wrong with us.

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Erik

Jul 26, 2015 08:11am

When are we launching the Kalabagh Dam project (and other dams in different flood prone areas) or are we going to keep taking casualties every year?

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Semab

Jul 26, 2015 10:00am

Only country where people die because of heat wave, cold and floods.

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fitting Reply

Jul 26, 2015 10:06am

@Blue Saffron "What is wrong with us?" Everything.

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Common man

Jul 26, 2015 10:14am

PTI is doing fantastic job in chital. They should start dharna in chitral as well

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Don'tPlayLeapFrogWithUnicorns

Jul 26, 2015 11:04am

May the souls of those perished rest in peace. Ameen.

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Miraj Uddin

Jul 26, 2015 01:05pm

Plz . every one especially the environmentalists and other meteorologists of Pakistan come forward execute a long term solution of environmental change in Chitral. The timely seasonal trip of political parties are not a durable solution o f this catastrophe ....Thanks every one who have stood with Chitral in this turmoil...

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Akram

Jul 26, 2015 01:47pm

@Blue Saffron Everything costs money, disaster management, training and equipment. these are actually the symptoms, the cause is the lack of tax paid in the country. When something goes wrong we complain why wasn't something done, but how many of us are actually paying our taxes honestly? In Pakistan less than 1% of the population pays income tax. How can you provide services like disaster management, healthcare and education when the state lacks the money? we are to blame ourselves.

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Juliana Fitzwater

Jul 26, 2015 02:05pm

@Akram Partially true. There is money earmarked for disaster management but the question is that how has those funds being spent. Do we have a disaster management plan for each district? Evacuation areas identified? Necessary resources (Helicopters, food supplies, emergency medicines, trained personnel) in place? Yes, with improvement in tax collection system more funds will be available for this but how about the existing resources? Why cant we efficiently allocate them?

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Qahoo

Jul 26, 2015 03:44pm

@Blue Saffron Nothing is Wrong with Pakistan, Ask All Pakistanis to pay their bills & taxes on time, Ask politicians to stop fooling people & most important my advice to All Pakistani brothers & sisters choose wisely when you go for voting. Still in current situation of Pakistan, PAK Army is doing its BEST.

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Qahoo

Jul 26, 2015 03:45pm

@Erik Well this is water from SKY through mountains, So KALABAGH DAM couldnt help here in this case. But Still we need DAMS in PAKISTAN.

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M.Saeed

Jul 26, 2015 07:30pm

@Blue Saffron : Our leaders refuse to lead us as they promise and we refuse not to return them again and again, to do what they are only made to do.

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Karma Cola

Jul 26, 2015 09:49pm

Please, don't blame the government. This is a freak weather pattern called monsoon, it appears only once every decade. No government can prepare for this.

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Syed Ali

Jul 27, 2015 03:20am

@Blue Saffron Good ideas; unfortunately regardjess of prepardness it is difficult to weather storms. Richest countries in the world have done poorly; ample warnings, evacuations, and rescue efforts makes a difference.

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