Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declares rain emergency in Lower and Upper Chitral

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 23 (ANI): The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in Pakistan on Sunday declared a rain emergency in Lower and Upper Chitral after flash floods and torrential rain, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.

Heavy rain with strong winds and thunderstorms lashed parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday, resulting in landslides and damaging infrastructure.
The rain continued intermittently through the day, causing “large-scale devastation” in the district. The rain also resulted in flash floods in Chitral, which washed away bridges, roads, and livestock, according to Dawn.

Pakistan Meteorological Department said several parts of Pakistan are likely to receive rain until July 26.

Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Department in a notification on Sunday said that the deputy commissioners of both districts had requested for an “emergency” to be declared in order to allow them to “launch immediate rescue and relief activities,” according to Dawn.

The provincial government declared a rain emergency in the two districts with immediate effect. The government further said that the emergency will remain in place until August 15 for “provision of relief and restoration of damaged communication network and water supply.”

Earlier on Saturday, Rescue 1122 District Head Hafeezur Rehman said that fresh rain spell caused devastation and killed five people. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in a report on Sunday said that four people had died in rain-related incidents in Mansehra.

According to the report, road clearance activities were being conducted at five places in the Lower Chitral district that had been blocked since Saturday due to flash flooding, as per the Dawn report.

The report said seven houses had been fully damaged during the past 36 hours while 67 houses were partially damaged. It further said that a school building was partially damaged while 47 cattle had perished.

The PDMA said that the “vulnerable communities” have been evacuated to safer places and given food items due to a “very high” flood in Chitral River and the destruction caused in Lower Chitral.

According to the report, non-food items have been dispatched for the impacted in Lower and Upper Chitral. The PDMA further said that eight water supply schemes in different regions of Upper Chitral were damaged.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Interim Chief Minister Mohammad Azam Khan ordered the relief department and the district administration to remain on “high alert,” according to Dawn. He ordered the authorties to immediately begin relief and rescue activities and to ensure that aid was provided to the impacted people.

As per the Dawn report, Mohammad Azam Khan directed the officials to move impacted people to safer locations. He assured that the provincial government will help them in “every possible way.”