Daily Times

The Met Office on Sunday forecast widespread rain, winds and thunderstorms with snow fall over the high mountain for most parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2 to April 5. It said that isolated heavy falls and a few hail storm is expected in Chitral, Lower and Upper Dir, Malakand, Swat, Buner, Shangla, Kohistan, Battagram, Torghar, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur, Swabi, Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar, Charsadda, Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, Hangu, Karak, Kohat, Bannu, Lakki Mawat, Tank, DI Khan, North and South Waziristan districts during the period. It warned that strong winds and hailstorms could cause damage to loose infrastructure and standing crops in the province. Landslides could also occur in some vulnerable parts in hilly areas during the forecast period and day temperatures would fall significantly during the spell. Meanwhile, PDMA issued an alert to all district governments to take precautionary measures to avoid loss of life and damage to infrastructure, crops and animals. The authority also asked the concerned departments to ensure the availability of emergency services, staff, machinery and other resources, remain vigilant in restoring road links in case of landslides and keep monitoring of local Nullahs besides activating emergency helpline No 1700 to respond to any emergency timely.