Syed Zahid Jan
UPPER DIR : After seven days of public reaction, the road damaged by floods in Kumrat, Barikot Upper Dir, has been partially restored for traffic. First time since the floods, passengers and other vehicles have reached Thal and Dir both side.
According to details, a flood occurred in the tourist destination of Kumrat, Upper Dir, seven days ago, which suddenly washed away houses, land, crops, and wooden bridges in Kumrat, Thal, and Barikot, while the roads were also severely damaged due to the flood. Hundreds of tourists were stranded in Kumrat due to the flood, causing difficulties for locals and tourists.
Deputy Commissioner Naveed Akbar visited the affected areas and directed the authorities to start work immediately and open the road for traffic as soon as possible.
Although the district administration made efforts to evacuate the tourists from Kumrat to their respective areas via Dir and Badgoi Top, the road from Thal to Kumrat and from Barikot to Thal was completely blocked due to the flood.
As a result, people, including women and children, were forced to walk for several minutes to cross the mountain at Barikot by foot. However, the PKHA and C&W started restoring the road along the riverbank at Barikot and cutting the mountain at Gulon under the direction of Deputy Commissioner Upper Dir Naveed Akbar.
Despite the passage of six days, the road restoration work from Barikot to Thal could not be completed, causing severe disappointment and anger among the people of Thal and Kalakot.
A protest gathering was held in the Thal mosque on Wednesday, which was addressed by ANP leader Haji Gul Sher and others.
They said that despite the passage of six days, the failure to restore the road at two places in Barikot has caused severe difficulties for the people of Thal and Kalakot.
People are forced to walk on the mountain to cross Barikot by foot , but restoring the road with one excavator is not less than a joke for the population of over one lakh people of Thal, Kalakot, and Barikot.
Gul Sher said that women, children, and patients are being carried on shoulders, but the PKHA and C&W authorities have not yet restored the 400-meter stretch of the road washed away by the flood, which is a tragedy.
The slow pace of road restoration work has not only hindered the supply of food and other items from Dir and other areas but also increased the difficulties of thousands of people in Barikot, Thal, and Kalakot.
They criticized the PKHA, and C&W, saying they have no realization of the people’s difficulties.
While arrangements were made for a helicopter for a influential family from Karachi, Gul Sher said that restoring the road with one excavator is impossible, so the district administration and DC Upper Dir should take notice and increase the number of excavators to complete the road restoration work as soon as possible.
he said that on one hand, people have suffered severe losses due to the flood, and on the other hand, the non-restoration of the road has caused difficulties in transporting vegetables from Thal to various big markets across the country, and there is a severe risk of vegetables getting spoiled in the godowns.
meanwhile, the
Assistant Commissioner After seven days of severe public reaction, the road damaged by floods in Kumrat, Upper Dir, has been partially restored for traffic at Brekot. For the first time since the floods, passengers and other vehicles have reached both side from Barikot to Thal and from Thal to Dir.
