-Manda headworks collapse, Charsadda and Shubqadar under water
-KP govt imposes emergency in many districts
-Flood waters wreak havoc in Swat, Kalam, Hazara divison, Mardan and other areas
-Four friends swept by flood in Kohistan after waiting for help for three hours
-Significant flood warning at Kalabagh and Chashma issued
-Military to be deployed in all four Provinces for relief efforts
Bureau Report
PESHAWAR: The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has declared a rain emergency in several districts of the province with immediate effect till August 30 after the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) warned of “high to very high floods” in the Swat River.
The rain emergency which came into force with immediate effect will remain in place till August 30 as Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) has warned of a “high level of flood” in Khwaja Khela and associated rivers/ tributaries of Swat River.
Besides Swat, the flash floods also played havoc in Shangla, Mingora, Kohistan, DI Khan, Kalam valley Hazara division and other areas of the province. A viral video on social media showed a multi-story hotel in Kalam valley was swept away by flood waters. Gushing floods flowing with bullet speed swept through houses, restaurants, and buildings perched on the river banks in Swat, as stunned pedestrians looked on from a distance.
According to Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) at least 193 people have died and 251 injured due to rains and floods in K-P during the ongoing monsoon rains.
At least 19,748 homes, hotels and other buildings have been damaged in the province due to flash floods, said the PDMA.
Besides infrastructure, the heavy rains and flood also left at least 959 animals dead across the province.
The emergency was imposed on the recommendation of the district administration and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) as K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan instructed authorities concerned to accelerate rescue and relief activities.
CM Mahmood further instructed the authorities to provide food, water and other essential items to the flood victims on an emergency basis.
“The concerned district administration should ensure access to every affected person, and all possible efforts will be made to compensate the losses of affected families”, the CM said, adding that the K-P government stood with the victims in their time of need.
The provincial chief executive further stated that all resources would be utilised to help rehabilitate the flood victims and that orders have been given to the district administration to work on the affected infrastructure.
The Chief Minister’s Special Assistant for Information, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif has said that 10 citizens died due to the recent rains and floods, which occurred in Swat, Chitral, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and Dir.
“The provincial government has declared the three most affected districts as calamity-hit where relief operations are ongoing. Population in sensitive areas has been shifted to safer places,” he stated.
The provincial government has also established “Flood Emergency Control Room” to monitor the flood situation and launched an official landline (091111712713) and Whatsapp numbers (03041033435) to help the stranded citizens.
Four friends lost their lives on Friday while one survived after being stuck in floods for three continuous hours in the Sanagai area of Lower Kohistan District.
According to the residents of the area, the five victims climbed on a rock to save themselves after being surrounded by heavy flooding.
The victims waited for help, however, no rescue team arrived to save them and they were eventually swept away by the high-pressure flood water.
The locals of the area said that a helicopter could have arrived from Peshawar or Gilgit in an hour if the administration wanted. They tried saving them by pulling them with the help of a rope, however, they could only save one out of five.
They said that they could only rescue one victim while the rest four were swept away in floods, adding that they only recovered one of the bodies out of four.
The video of the incident has been going viral on social media and netizens have expressed their anger over the administration’s failure to not rescue the victims.
In two districts of Hazara division, the number of people who died due to floods rose to 21.
At least 14 people were washed away in the flood relay in Mansehra’s Kaghan valley, after which 10 bodies of women and children fished out from the river Kunhar.
In another incident five brothers were washed away in the flood in Kohistan Debir, while in Kohistan Patan, three women died and two children were injured after their house damaged by flash floods.
The PDMA has issued a letter to the district administrations of Swat, Lower Dir, Malakand, Mohmand, Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera and Peshawar, instructing them to be on alert and take precautionary measures.
They further directed the concerned district administrations to take preventive measures by identifying populations in sensitive areas.
“The district administration shall ensure timely measures to protect any loss of life and property, infrastructure, crops and livestock,” the authority said.
According to the PDMA guidelines, populations in “sensitive areas” should be moved to safer areas before an emergency arises, and that aid and medical supplies should be provided in a timely manner to the affected people.
The PDMA further advised that locals, farmers and herdsmen should be warned in advance to move their livestock to safer places.
The provincial authority further instructed authorities to limit the movement of vehicles on highways adjacent to canals connected to rivers and to coordinate with the concerned departments for road cleaning.
It also ordered concerned administrations to continuously monitor the water level in the rivers and their associated streams.
The PDMA advised people to ignore “unnecessary rumours” and contact the Rescue 1122 helpline in case of an emergency.
“Rescue 1122, Civil Defense and all related organisations are also instructed to remain alert and ensure the availability of equipment. The emergency operation centre of PDMA is fully functional. People should report any untoward incident on the helpline 1700”, the guidelines stated.
Separately, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued a significant flood warning in the River Indus at Kalabagh and Chashma, which may attain “high to very high flood level ranging between 550,000 Cusecs to 700,000 cusecs from 12pm today (August 27) to 12pm of August 28.
The Met Department urged authorities to take all precautionary measures to prevent the loss of lives and property.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the Pakistan Army will be deployed to assist civilian authorities in relief efforts.
“All the provincial governments had sent the requisition to deploy Armed forces under article 245, which has been approved by the interior ministry,” he said on Twitter.
“The army personnel are being stationed to lend a hand to the civilian authorities in relief activities in the flood-ravaged areas.”
