SHANGLA: Rain along with strong winds lashed parts of Shangla district, including Bisham city, on Monday afternoon flooding the Karakoram Highway and link roads to suspend traffic.

Officials and residents also reported disputation of power supply and damage to water pipelines.

They said the Karakoram

Highway was blocked in the Lahore area due to heavy mud flow leaving travellers, including tourists, stranded for long hours.

Bisham SHO Bakht Zahir Khan told Dawn that the heavy downpour caused the main nullah in Lahore area to swell, suspending traffic.

Residents complain of prolonged power suspension

He said a team of the Frontier Works Organisation had gone to the area to clear the road to traffic.

The SHO said strong winds uprooted power pylons along the KKH in the Lahore area.

He said electric supply to the area was suspended by the public utility after the incident.

“Besides removing pylons from the road, Pesco is also trying to restore power supply,” he said.

Mohammad Ali Shah, a Bisham resident, complained that the area didn’t have electricity.

He said strong winds began blowing in the morning and continued during the heavy rainfall.

INJURED: A mini-truck fell into a ravine on the outskirts of Bisham city on Monday injuring the driver and his helper.

The incident occurred due to speeding, according to spokesman for Rescue 1122 Rasool Khan Sharif.

He told reporters that the mini-truck carried sand to Alpuri and fell into the gorge in Sadin area.

The spokesman said the injured, both residents of Maira Bisham area, were shifted to the tehsil

headquarters hospital after being given first aid.

LAID TO REST: Two miners, who died in a coalmine incident in Balochistan province the other day, were laid to rest in their native village of Kuz Kana here on Monday.

The deceased, including Haji Rehman, 17, and Sarbali, 19, were brothers, according to Shangla Coalmine Association president Abid Yar.

He told Dawn that the two died in a coalmine of Shahragh area due to a lack of oxygen.

Mr Yar said the coalmine’s management was asked by a Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation team to

ensure the safety of workers inside the mine, but the former ignored the directions and forced workers to mine without oxygen.

He said criminal negligence on part of the mine’s management and contractor led to the death of miners and therefore, the government should take strict legal action against them.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2023