DERA GHAZI KHAN: A number of people in Taunsa Sharif tehsil and its contiguous areas are fighting for survival amid ravages of hill torrents and flood.

With the recovery of two more dead bodies -- an infant and a young man who had been missing for the last few days, the death toll on Sunday rose to 21. Rescuers found the bodies of one-year-old Asif (son of Khadim Hussain of Chhitani Zinda Pir village) and Ramzan, 27, (son of Allah Divaya -- Bhuttaywali village).

Deputy Commissioner Anwar Baryar committed that the Punjab government would provide compensatory amount of Rs800,000 to each deceased’s family. Financial assistance would be provided to the affected people by estimating the losses of houses, crops and livestock, he said. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi ordered expeditious work on reconstruction and repair of roads in the affected areas.

Death toll rises to 21 with recovery of more bodies

Plight of the populace

Hundreds of residents of the flood-hit villages are facing a trying ordeal without home and hearth. They are at the mercy of the gushing waters emerging from mountain drains, which are too strong to be stopped by any dyke or concrete structure of Chashma Right Bank Canal.

A visit to the devastated areas revealed the plight of the people who are hoping against hope that their houses will be reconstructed and they will get back to their work. They are also at risk of contracting diseases for being exposed to dirt and vermin.

Murad, a resident of Bhargari village, told Dawn that almost all dwellings in their area had been reduced to rubble. “The government has given us tents and food hampers but we need reconstruction of our houses and permanent protection against the hill torrents,” he demanded.

Ahmadani village resident Rasheed sobbed out: “We need financial help as well as moral support to come out of the trauma and be back to normal life once again. The loss of a loved one and meagre belongings in the flood has changed our lives,” he said.

The flood has also damaged the Indus Highway and disrupted traffic. The police station near the village had its walls cracked.

Khuda Bakhsh, an elderly resident of the area, said the floods were the outcome of “intervention in the traditional routes of floodwaters of mountain drains.” The hill torrents, he recalled, were considered a blessing for the people of arid zone as they would use the water for irrigation of their chunks of land through a canal system.

“The farmers nowadays depend on turbines for irrigation and are no more dependent on the natural flow of water. They have, in the process, weakened the embankments or dykes,” he said.

Negligence of the irrigation department officials had added to the problems, a resident of Qasim village said.

The deputy commissioner said 185 mauzas of 33 union councils were hit by the flood and 80,000 people had been displaced. He said that on the direction of the Punjab government, the district administration was preparing data on the basis of which it would declare it the calamity-hit area.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2022