SWABI: Floodwaters washed away two causeways built by the local people on self-help basis recently on the Badri Nullah, disrupting the communication link between their villages and the Swabi city here on Saturday.

The causeways were built in the Shalkhi and Kala villages, with the former coming up only a day ago.

The residents of Shalkhi and other villages regretted that former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser had ordered demolition of a dilapidated bridge on the Badri Nullah during the last months of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government, promising to a build a new one, but to no avail.

They said the circumstances forced them to urge local Awami National Party’s politician Nawabzada to bridge a causeway on the nullah, which he did.

The residents said a local had also installed a chairlift on the nullah to facilitate the people cross the stream.

Rohal Amin, a social worker in Shalkhi village, said the leadership of the political parties and local body representatives had failed to build a bridge over the nullah.

However, local government representatives said they didn’t have funds to construct a bridge over the nullah.

When contacted, an official of tehsil municipal administration said they had no funds to construct a bridge over the nullah.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2023