PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: The Kohistan region in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was still reeling on Sunday as raging flood-waters trapped the mountainous district and authorities continued to ask for help in rescuing stranded people in several cities across the province.
Many areas are “completely cut off” due to the deadly floods which began in June and continue to wreak havoc in Pakistan, the provincial administration said.
The chairman of Kandia in Upper Kohistan, Anwar ul-Haq, said the administrative unit has been “completely cut-off” from the rest of Kohistan and there is no mobile phone coverage.
He said people made their way through perilous conditions on foot — with some travelling for two days — and informed him that an estimated 2,000 houses have been swept away in the floods.
Haq added there is an acute need for food and medicine in his unit as cases of diarrhoea have surged.
Flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across much of Pakistan have killed more than 1,000 people and injured and displaced millions since mid-June, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.
The monsoon season, which began earlier than normal this year, has lashed the country with particularly heavy rains and rescuers have struggled to evacuate thousands of marooned people from flood-hit areas.
The crisis forced the government to declare a state of emergency.
On Saturday, some 350,000 people were evacuated from the cities of Charsadda and Nowshera as powerful flash floods caused the Kabul River to swell, sweeping away a large bridge overnight and cutting off some districts from road access.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, flooding destroyed the gates of a major water control system at the Swat River, leading to flooding in the districts of Charsadda and Nowshera, said Saniya Safi, the assistant commissioner in Charsadda.
“We preempted the situation and warned and forced hesitating residents to leave their homes for safety and move to relief camps established at government buildings in safe places,” she said.
Safi said there was a concern of further rising of the Swat and Kabul rivers, adding to the misery of residents who have already suffered the loss of lives and property.
Marriyum Aurangzeb, the information minister, said soldiers and rescue organisations were helping people to reach safety in many districts of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Balochistan.
“Government has sanctioned sufficient funds to financially compensate the affected people and we will not leave our people alone in this tough time,” she said.
Aurangzeb asked wealthy people and relief organisations to come forward with aid to help flood-affected Pakistanis.
— With AP
