SWAT/MANSEHRA: Heavy rain caused flooding in the Swat River’s tributary Daral Khwar on Tuesday evening inundating hotels and shops in Bahrain Bazaar.

However, no damage to public life was reported.

The floodwaters also cut off Kedam, Mankiyal, Pishmal, Kalam, Utror, Gabral, Matiltan and dozens of other areas from the rest of Swat district, residents told Dawn.

They also said the downpour increased water level in the Swat River damaging the Bahrain-Kalam Road in Lambat, Cham Garai, Mankiyal, Bahrain, Asrait and Kalam areas.

The residents said the flooding damaged several link roads and bridges as well.

Heavy rain, snowfall destroy roads, crops in Hazara

Nazir Ahmad Kalami told Dawn that besides hundreds of locals, goods trucks and tourists had been stranded in Kalam, Utror and Matiltan areas.

He said floodwaters uprooted dozens of power poles causing a prolonged power outage in the entire area.

The people of Kalam said that many families got marooned due to road closures while returning to Kalam, Utror, Gabral, Matiltan and other areas from lower parts of the region they had moved to in the winter season.

“Families have got stuck on the way to their areas,” social activist Aziz Kalami told Dawn.

The residents said many families left for Bahrain to fetch food and other essential items.

The people of Kalam and Bahrain areas criticised the federal and provincial governments over failure to build roads in the region after last year’s devastating floods.

“After the August 2022 massive floods, we [residents] repeatedly asked authorities to construct a bridge on Daral Khwar and rebuild parts of the road to Kalam washed by floodwaters, but to no avail,” Rahman Kohistani told Dawn.

He added that authorities delayed the bridge’s construction and installed a makeshift bridge on the river’s tributary but it was submerged by the fresh spell of heavy rain cutting off Kalam and its adjoining areas from the rest of Swat district.

Meanwhile, residents of Bahrain, Kalam, Mankiyal and Utror areas took to the streets in the Mingora area demanding the repair of the Bahrain-Kalam Road on an emergency basis.

They said the district administration should initiate work on the road without delay to help locals get food and other essential goods.

The protesters threatened more street protests over further delay in road repairs.

Meanwhile, heavy rain and snowfall swept away roads and standing crops in upper parts of Hazara division on Wednesday.

A cold wave swept across Kaghan valley after intermittent heavy snowfall all through the day.

Mohammad Fareed of Balakot area said it snowed heavily from Naran to Babusar Top, Barawai and nearby mountains.

He said traffic came to a halt on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road after glaciers in Kali Mitti, Lambi Patti and Chitta Khatta areas hit the key artery, which linked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit-Baltistan.

The resident said the Kunhar River and Manor stream swelled alarmingly due to downpour and snowfall in parts of Balakot tehsil, including Kaghan valley.

The downpour caused Kiyal and many streams in Lower Kohistan district to burst their banks to sweep roads to several villages and towns.

Assistant commissioner Gul Shahzad and officials of the works and communication department visited the calamity-hit areas and examined the rescue and relief operations.

The rainfall, which continued for the third consecutive day, destroyed standing crops in Mansehra, Torghar, Upper and Lower Kohistan, Kolai-Palas and Torghar districts.

The Frontier Works Organisation put up a temporary bridge over the Ichar nullah in Upper Kohistan district restoring traffic between KP and GB. The concrete bridge was swept away by flash floods last August. The stranded people used the makeshift bridge to leave for their destinations.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2023