PESHAWAR: A long-awaited downpour lashed the Peshawar valley on Tuesday night and on Wednesday, ending severe humidity, but disrupted civic life in various parts of the provincial metropolis as rainwater inundated roads and streets in Hayatabad Township and suspended electricity supply.

Residents said power supply remained cut off in various sectors of Hayatabad and adjacent areas for several hours. The rainwater also submerged roads and streets in low-lying areas of the Peshawar city.

The rain exposed poor quality of work of the recently-launched BRT service after roofs of various stations started leaking. Videos of leaking BRT stations went viral on social media.

An official of the Met office said Peshawar’s old city area received 11mm rain. He said Hayatabad and University Town areas received heavy downpour but it could not be measured due to lack of a Met station there. He said heavy rain lashed Peshawar valley, Malakand, Hazara and Bannu divisions during the past 24 hours.

The Met office recorded 108mm rain in Malam Jabba, 105mm in Balakot, and 45mm in Mardan. The rain also caused damage to standing crops in Mardan, Malakand and Hazara.

Flood washes away bridge, 20 houses in Chitral village

The official said more rain was forecast in the province during the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, flash floods washed away a bridge over a stream, a mosque and more than 20 houses in Reshun village of Chitral on Wednesday evening.

Amirullah, a local resident, told Dawn on telephone that hundreds of people, including women and children, had taken refuge on a hillock. He said loss to human life could not be ascertained due to darkness as the power supply had been suspended.

Upper Chitral DC Shah Saud said magnitude of losses could be assessed on Thursday (today) as the village was in pitched darkness. He said Charun, Booni, Awi and Brep villages had also been hit by flash floods.

The flash floods also submerged two villages in the Kalash valley of Rumbur, damaging 10 houses, a hotel and a government primary school on Tuesday evening. The Rumbur Road was also closed to traffic.

High flood in the Rumbur stream forced closure of two hydropower stations near Ayun village.

The flood also inundated fields of standing maize, bean crops and fruit orchards.

Meanwhile, the Martung-Chakesar Road was blocked at several points due to landslides triggered by heavy rain that lashed Shangla district on Tuesday night.

Abdul Maula, a resident of Puran, told Dawn that the road linking Martung and Puran with Chakesar was blocked at four points due to landslides.

He said the rubble lying on the Towa-Chakesar Road for a month was yet to be removed.

Akbar Hussain, a former district councillor in Martung, said neither the local MPA nor the administration was interested in removing the debris from the road.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2020