TIMERGARA: Floodwater washed away agricultural lands along the banks of River Panjkora and River Swat, besides uprooting several bridges.

Residents of Luqman Banda told Dawn on Monday that the bridge connecting Khall with their locality was washed away by gushing waters of the River Panjkora at Shal Palam area. They said the bridge was the only source connecting the local population to other parts of the district. They said students and patients had been the worst affected.

They demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to take prompt action to rebuild the bridge.

The floods also halted the work on the Khazana bypass and Khall bridges. On March 13, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority had closed the Khazana bridge to traffic after it developed cracks.

The authorities had diverted flow of water to ensure speedy reconstruction work, but the floods halted the repair work. The machinery of a construction company was also stuck in the floodwater at Khall.

District nazim Haji Mohammad Rasool Khan demanded of the government to send a team to carry out survey of the damaged bridges for their early reconstruction.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Speakers at a seminar on the ‘importance of social media’ urged its users to avoid sensationalism and harassment.

The Khall Charity, a local welfare organisation, arranged the seminar, which was attended by social and political activists.

The speakers said majority of social media users were unaware of media ethics, thus misusing it. They informed the participants of the importance of social media and shared their personal experiences with the audience.

They said majority of the social media users lacked proper training and guidance.

The speakers urged the social media users to highlight civic problems and real issues of local populations through different social media and avoid propagating negative ideas and thoughts.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2016