SWAT: The devastating flood on August 25 destroyed the entire Chail Depo village and washed away the houses and crops of the villagers.

However, the pain of 14-year-old Hazrat Bilal, a resident of the ill-fated village, knows no limits as flood has not only swept away his house and books but also caused the death of his father.

His father worked in Karachi to earn livelihood for his family. He was also in Karachi when the flood hit his village Chail Depo in Madyan valley. “When my father learnt that the house and the agricultural lands were washed away, he got on a bus to come here. But then we received a call from an unknown person that he died of cardiac arrest,” Bilal narrated his ordeal.

Bilal was waiting for the arrival his father’s dead body while his uncles were busy in making preparations for his burial. “I was asleep when my elder brother awakened me and told me to leave the house as the flood had hit our area,” he told this scribe.

Flood washed away entire Chail Depo locality on Aug 25

He said that it was raining heavily outside and he was told to rush to upper areas to save his life. “It was a terrible scene when the flood entered our house and wiped out it completely within no time. It was the most frightening moment of my life when the terrible flood engulfed our village,” he added.

Bilal said that he and his family members were watching their house being washed away but they could not do anything. He said that they could not even sit as there was heavy rain the whole day. He said that they had to stay awake all the time under the open sky.

He said that the flood also washed away all their agricultural lands and livestock. The devastating floods washed away the entire Chail Depo village and the residents had to live either with their relatives or under the open sky.

Shah Wazir Khan, an elderly man, who was sitting in his washed away fields, said it was about 4:30am when a neighbour knocked his door and told him to evacuate the house immediately. “When we came out, we saw that the raging floodwater was moving towards our village,” he added.

He said that he and his family members rushed out of their house and within a few minutes his house was no more. “The flood wiped out our eight-room house, a shop, and other houses in the village. The devastating flood deprived me of everything I had. I don’t know what to do for the livelihood as the entire agricultural land has also been washed away by the flood,” he said gloomily.

Shah Wazir said that he was staying with his relatives while his sons stayed with some other villagers. He appealed to the government to help him as he and his family were left at the mercy of God.

Hazrat Faqir, another resident of the village, said that he and his brothers had spent the earnings of their lives to construct their houses but the flood deprived them of their houses in a wink. “I cannot estimate our losses as the flood washed away 14 houses of our family and a vast tract of agricultural land,” he said, adding that apart from the agricultural land, the flood washed away their walnut trees and a persimmons orchard.

The residents of Chail Depo appealed to the government and non-governmental organisations to provide immediate support to them and help in their rehabilitation.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2022