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Heavy torrential rains and flash floods have triggered destruction in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, resulting in the death of a woman and leaving hundreds of commuters stranded, according to Dawn. The rains have alos led to livelihood concerns.
In Lower Dir district's Dalgram area, a woman was killed when a mud-built room of her house collapsed under the impact of heavy rains. Meanwhile, Broze village in Chitral suffered a second catastrophe within less than a week on Tuesday afternoon, when simultaneous cloudbursts at two separate locations unleashed massive flash floods, completely severing the main traffic artery connecting Chitral with the rest of the country. Located near Chitral city along the critical Chitral-Peshawar Road, Broze village continues to reel from the destruction caused by the previous week's flooding without adequate state relief, Dawn reported. Residents disclosed that raging flood torrents rapidly overwhelmed the bridge over the Gumbus nullah, washing away four shops in the vicinity. A nearby filling station, which remained buried under mud and debris from the earlier flood due to delayed clearance efforts by local authorities, was inundated for a second time before any rehabilitation work could be carried out. Further down the route, furious floodwaters entirely washed away the temporary bridge over the Broze Gol nullah. The torrents also destroyed the essential foundation work of an under-construction permanent bridge, exposing severe vulnerabilities and delays in local infrastructure development, Dawn highlighted. The double disaster has completely halted vehicular movement between Peshawar and Chitral, blocking the primary highway at two separate points within Broze village. Hundreds of passengers travelling to Chitral from Rawalpindi and Peshawar found themselves stranded near Gumbas Gol as night fell without basic emergency assistance. Consequently, transport operators cancelled all scheduled journeys, leaving passenger buses and vehicles unable to depart Chitral for down-country cities on Tuesday evening. Facing immense financial ruin amidst minimal government aid, residents expressed severe concern over their livelihoods. According to Dawn, Nasir Azad, a resident of Broze, stated over the phone that the flash floods inflicted devastating damage on standing maize crops and fruit orchards, the primary economic lifeline of the local community. Initial assessments indicate that over 12 residential structures have also been partially damaged by the floodwaters and heavy debris. Azad further revealed that the flash flood completely destroyed the crucial irrigation channel in Broze Gol. Demonstrating the total absence of government support, the local community had spent days restoring the channel entirely on a self-help basis, only for the cloudburst to destroy it hours after completion on Tuesday morning. Although heavy machinery from the National Highway Authority was eventually deployed to clear mounds of boulders, mud, and debris to reopen a single lane for stranded travellers, residents expressed grave concern that complete normalisation of traffic will take significant time due to extensive damage and crumbling state infrastructure. (ANI)
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