CHITRAL: Flash flood caused by rain on Thursday night inundated Birzoz village in Yarkhoon valley, forcing more than five families to seek shelter at safer places and destroying standing crops and fruit orchards.

The villagers said the flash flood was rare in the season. They said dry weather over the last two weeks had raised the temperature leading to melting down of snow in the nearby pastures and mountains, which coupled with rain, caused the flash flood.

The regional programme manager of Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH), a disaster relief agency working in the area, said as per preliminary information no home in the village had been completely destroyed by the flood.

However, he said the flood destroyed standing crops of wheat and barley along with fruit orchards of apple and apricot. He said the people had returned to their homes.

He said both food and non-food items would be supplied instantly to the affected people, while need-assessment of the affected areas was underway.

Meanwhile, the road leading to upper parts of Yarkhoon valley and Baroghil was blocked when the flood hit the Birzoz village.

INQUIRY SOUGH INTO RECRUITMENTS: MNA Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali has demanded of the government to declare the recent appointments against class-IV posts in different schools of Chitral null and void and order an inquiry into the matter.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, he alleged that district education officer Ihsanul Haq had appointed scores of persons in violation of rules at the behest of PTI leaders.

He said people in different areas had donated land for the schools in return for appointment of locals as low grade employees there, but the recent appointments had ignored the landowners, who were now planning to lock down the schools.

Mr Chitrali said the DEO had been transferred from Chitral two weeks ago on completion of his four-year tenure, but he was posted back to the district on the influence of PTI leaders, and it was due to the reason that he was pandering to their wishes.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2019