PESHAWAR, July 5: With the helplessness of the provincial government and civil administrations of the flood affected districts of the NWFP, people of the Northern Areas and low lying areas of the province are fearful of more difficult days during the season of torrential rains and flash floods. Senior officials of the provincial irrigation department and independent circles in Chitral while talking to Dawn, warned that the up-coming rainy season in the low lying areas and upper parts of the province is likely to cause more problems for people.

People belonging to different segments of the society, interviewed by this correspondent recently in Chitral, said that water level in Chitral river usually hit the maximum point in August and September as a result of snow-melting.

Though the river touched an unprecedented high level of water flow in June causing substantial losses to fragile infrastructure in different parts of the district, they apprehended that difficult time was ahead because snow-melting was expected to pick up because of rains.

“The worst has yet to come as rains traditionally speed up the snow-melting process,” said Aziz Ali, district manager of the IUCN, Chitral.

The district received heavy snowfall during the last winter as a result of which several of the hills surrounding Chitral town and Lawari Pass still have snow and avalanches at their peaks and slopes, respectively.

Locals, particularly several of the elderly men, have described it as a ‘new phenomena’. “Through out my life, I never saw so much snow on the surrounding hills and unprecedented higher water level in Chitral river as has been the case this time,” said Fazal Subhan, in his mid 80s, a resident of Ayun.

They, however, rejected the NWFP government’s repeatedly issued press updates that several of the Chitral villages had been inundated by the rising water level in the Chitral river — a point also supported by a Peshawar-based official hydrologist.

“Agriculture land and majority of the villages in Chitral district are situated on higher hill slopes as a result the river can not inundate them,” said a local working with a foreign funded development project.

However, the gushing water in nullahs, streams and water falls has swept away small bridges at some places disturbing traffic flow at one point on the Chitral-Shindoor Kucha road and in Golain valley near Chitral town.

Senior officials of the district administration expressed inability to rehabilitate the road network affected recently. They described lack of financial resources as the main reason.

Safdar Ali, president of the valley conservation committee of Golain — a voluntary organization formed by the people — said that the UNDP has announced to extend financial assistance for constructing a foot-bridge so that people affected by the sweeping away of the cantilever bridge could easily approach Chitral.

“After the cantilever bridge, used by small 4x4 vehicles, was whisked away by thrashing stream water, a population of about 2,000 people was cut off from the Chitral town and only the young could approach the town by using a difficult hilly track which takes about six hours,” said Safdar Ali.

He said that work on constructing the foot-bridge would shortly commence and it would take about two weeks to complete.

“We also approached the district government but to no avail as its officials had promised to help once the provincial government extends financial support for the same,” he said.