PESHAWAR, Sept 17 In a rare phenomenon of changing weather pattern, Kalam, its nearby mountains and valleys on Friday received snowfall ahead of the winter season, multiplying miseries of already flood-stricken residents.

“The mountains around Kalam received snowfall, which is a rare phenomenon in the month of September. Continuous rain throughout the day has dropped mercury level forcing people to use woolen clothes, shawls and blankets here,” a social activist, Ameerzada Khan, told Dawn by cellphone from Kalam, around 100-km north of Mingora.

He said that normally weather remained pleasant in September when people harvest crops and pick vegetables and fruits.

He said that bad weather also resulted in suspension of US helicopter relief service to Kalam, the major tourist resort of the district, and people mostly preferred to remain indoors.

Another resident of Kalam, Abdul Ali, told Dawn by phone that work on restoration of roads and bridges, which local people had started on self-help basis, also remained suspended due to downpour.

Over 50 days have passed since flashfloods overwhelmed the district causing widespread devastation and cutting off several valleys, including Kalam, from rest of the district and country.

The sudden change in weather and depleting stocks of ration and daily-use commodities have caused frustration among people in Kalam, fearing that a tough winter is round the corner.

Mr Ali said that supply of ration especially through helicopter service was too meagre to meet the requirements of large population and people had to walk down for several kilometres for bringing a small quantity of flour and other items on their backs.

Flashfloods on July 29 and 30 swept away almost all the small and big bridges and vast patches of road on Mingora-Kalam Road, cutting off the three major tourist resorts of Kalam, Behrain and Madyan from rest of the Swat valley.

Presently, inhabitants of these areas are engaged in a heroic struggle of reconstruction and restoration of bridges and roads on self help basis.

“People have now been running short of ration and are in a state of frustration while looking at their uncertain future,” said Mr Ali. He told Dawn that the valley comprised two union councils, Kalam and Uthror, with a total population of around 50,000.

He said that the total affected population from Kalam and Bahrain was over 100,000. Mr Ameerzada Khan said that people had also been facing shortage of medicines and drinking water and in some areas people were forced to consume river water. He added that they had now been consuming little food while apprehending looming food insecurity.

He said that people normally set out early in the morning to resume work on restoration of roads and bridges and so far they had managed to restore up to 18 kilometres of road towards Behrain, 40 kilometres south of Kalam.

He said that except one cellular phone network, all the other networks as well as PTCL landlines were non-functional. In rest of Swat, rainwater inundated several roads which have already been in dilapidated condition.

People have also stopped using fans in Lower Swat as weather turned cold.