Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The first monsoon rain wreaked havoc in Chitral, as at least 43 people were reported dead and 26 missing in the Ursoon area on Sunday.

“Sixteen of the dead were offering prayers in the mosque when it was swept away by the flood,” said Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) spokesman Lateef-ur-Rahman. He said at least 37 houses were completely washed away and another 41 were partially damaged. “The irrigation system as well as clean drinking water facilities are badly damaged in the region,” he said. So far, only seven bodies have been recovered.

Talking to Daily Times, Rahman said the district administration and the district disaster management unit in Chitral had initiated rescue efforts in the Ursoon area. “At least 50 families have been given tents, blankets and food items at the initial stage,” he said.

The PDMA spokesman said the Pakistan Army, Chitral Scouts and local police were taking part in the rescue efforts. “The provincial government has declared an emergency at all hospitals in Chitral and cancelled leave of all hospital staff. All medical staff has been ordered to report and deal with all kinds of emergency,” he said. He said the PDMA Chitral office had an amount of Rs 10 million in its relief fund.

Chitral Deputy Commissioner Osama Warraich told Daily Times that the administration had begun efforts to purchase edibles, blankets and tents from the local market for the affected people. “The provincial government has announced a compensation of Rs 300,000 for the family of each person who was killed. Packages have been announced for the people whose houses and businesses were affected in the natural calamity,” he said. At least eight of the victims were soldiers, and another eight bodies were swept over the border into Afghanistan, said Warraich.

The Chitral administration has set up a medical camp to cater to the medical needs of the affected people. “We will be providing food to the whole village for one week at least. Villagers have been provided 5,000-foot pipe to set up a safe drinking water supply line. We are also helping in restoration of irrigation channels,” Warraich said.

The deputy commissioner said the affected village was accessible via road and the district administration was making efforts to reach out to all affected people. “There is a forecast for more rains in the region. Other vulnerable areas include Brep, Yarkhun and Mastuj. We are ready to deal with emergency situations,” he added.

Chitral is one of the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declared most vulnerable by the PDMA in the monsoon season. Other districts categorised as most vulnerable are Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Dera Ismail Khan, Swat, Shangla, Dir Lower, Kohistan Lower and Kohistan Upper.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Meteorological Department Director Syed Mushtaq Ali Shah said that intermittent rains would hit several areas of the province till Thursday. “We are expecting spells of rain in Peshawar, Kohat and Mardan division for the next few days. One or more heavy rains will cause floods in Khawar (seasonal streams),” he said. There will be rain on the first day of Eid-ul-Fitr, he added.

Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, the charitable wing of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, was among the first at the scene providing relief.

Survivors who had lost their homes were waiting for aid under open skies surrounded by mud and debris where their village once stood. Nearby villages had received flood warnings from the local authorities, but Ursoon was not alerted in time.

Separately, two Chinese engineers were killed and five Pakistani workers injured when the heavy rains caused the roof of a construction site to collapse at Tarbela Dam, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Rahman said.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s office issued a statement expressing his grief and sorrow.

Heavy rains and flash flood claim many victims each year, with poorly built homes across the country, particularly in rural areas, susceptible to collapse during the annual spring and monsoon rains in July-August.