SWAT: A man drowned when a boat capsized in the Swat River in Aryanai area of Kalam here on Monday.

Three brothers of the deceased were rescued after the boat loaded with vegetables capsized. The four brothers had arranged the boat for transportation of people and vegetables after the recent devastating floods washed away all the bridges on the Swat River.

The destruction of bridges cut off hundreds of villages and hamlets from the rest of the Swat. The people living across the river installed makeshift chairlifts and bridges to connect themselves with the rest of Swat.

“The devastating floods hit hard the upper Swat and washed the two main bridges, cutting off the people living across the river from other parts of the district. The floods also formed a huge dam due to landslide near Buddai Kamar area. Four brothers from Aryanai arranged a boat to transport people and vegetables from across the river. However, today all the four brothers were on the boat transporting vegetables to roadside area when the boat capsized after losing balance,” said Tahir Khan, a official of Bahrain police station.

He said that the three brothers were rescued alive while dead body of fourth one was found in Laikot area. The deceased was identified as Farid Khan, son of Baghi Shah.

In late August, the catastrophic floods caused by the monsoon rains wreaked havoc in upper Swat, especially in Madyan, Bahrain, Mankiyal, Pishmal, Aryanai, Kalam, Matiltan, Utror and Gabral areas.

The floods washed away bridges, roads, hotels, residential houses and hundreds of acres of agricultural land.

After the bridges were washed away, the entire population living across the Swat River were left stranded.

They either installed makeshift chairlifts or temporary wooden bridges on self-help basis to cross the river and carry out their essential chores.

The area is also famous for its high standard off-season vegetables mainly transported to other parts of the country and abroad.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2022