CHARSADDA/SHANGLA: Two children got injuries when heavy downpour coupled with thunderstorm paralysed life in different areas of Charsadda district in the small hours of Tuesday.

The local people said that heavy rain and thunderstorm damaged dozens of houses, uprooted hundreds of trees and electricity poles and destroyed standing crops and orchards. Heavy rain was recorded in Haleemabad, Utmanzai and others areas of Charsadda.

The rain increased water level in canals and streams and water entered houses and shops. Boundary walls and roofs of dozens of houses collapsed. As a result son of Sabz Ali and nephew of Alif Gul got injuries.

Traffic also remained blocked after scores of trees, electricity poles and billboards fell on link roads.

Landslide causes closure of roads in different areas of Shangla

The heavy rain and thunderstorm also damaged orchards of apricot, plums and peaches. Standing crops and vegetables were also damaged, inflicting heavy losses on farmers.

According to reports the boundary wall of Abdul Wali Khan Sports Complex, built at the cost of millions of rupees, was also damaged by flood water. Deputy Commissioner Tahir Abbasi and police officials rushed to the affected areas to take part in rescue work.

According to DDMO Charsadda, 20 houses and a primary school were partially damaged. He said that three houses collapsed due to rain. He said that revenue department officials were collecting data of the affected families to provide them with relief.

The official said that all necessary arrangements were made to cope with the flood threat. He said that rainwater entered houses due to overflow in streams. He added that encroachments were major cause of the damage.

The official said that PDMA was directed to provide tents and other relief to the affected people.

He claimed that a plan was chalked out some one month ago in consultation with representatives of education, health, civil defence and other departments to take timely action in case of floods in the district.

A protest demonstration, lead by ANP leader Timur Khan Khattak, was held against the government for not taking timely measures to avert losses.

The protesters said that rain wreaked havoc in Charsadda but neither officials of provincial government nor district government bothered to visit the affected areas.

The ANP leader demanded of the government to declare the area as calamity-hit and compensate the affected people.

In Shangla, Karakoram Highway and several link roads remained closed for hours due to landslide after heavy rain.

The heavy downpour continued on Tuesday for third consecutive day in Bisham and other parts of Shangla district that caused blockade of roads and overflow of water in the rivers.

People living along the banks of Indus River vacated their houses and shifted to safer places after increase in the level of water. In 2010, the areas suffered badly due to flash floods.

The local people said that Karakoram Highway remained blocked in Bisham, Shang and other points for eight hours due to landslide. Hundreds of vehicles going to Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad remained stuck on road.

However, later Frontier Works Organisation opened one side of the road to traffic.

Similarly, Bisham-Swat Road was also blocked at various points due to landslide.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2017