RESHUN: Residents of Reshun in Pakistan’s northernmost Upper Chitral district, have lost their homes, crops and access to the outside world as hours of downpours from Thursday night until Friday made the Chitral River overflow, causing flash floods with huge rocks and mud.
Inhabited by around 4,000 people, Reshun, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is surrounded by four big glaciers. Their melting in recent year, residents say, has aggravated the spell of floods which many regions in Pakistan struggle to cope with during the monsoon season which runs from July through September.
A man is collecting his belongings on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020, after his house in Reshun was destroyed by a mud flood. (AN photo)
“It was very scary night, sound of water and rolling stones was a nightmare. Father had spent lifetime savings on our house, but now we are in tent, looking to others for assistance,” Shafi-u-Nabi, 23, told Arab News as he describe how families at night rushed toward the mountains to save themselves from deluge.
“The water vanished maize and paddy crops on which everyone depends for year food” another resident, Farzana Bibi said. “So far none of the government representatives visited us. Local NGOs are trying their best, but the damage is huge.”
Reshun residents on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020 are cleaning a school board to show the height of flood waves that hit the town on Thursday night, Aug. 27, 2020. (AN photo)
On Saturday, residents were seen busy cleaning the remaining buildings from mud. They said no help was arriving from the provincial authorities and their own means were limited without heavy machinery to remove debris and restore access to clean water.
“We don’t have clean drinking water and now we are dependent on flood dirty river water,” resident Shahbaz Jan said.
“The main mosque, shops and 25 houses were destroyed while another 75 were severely damaged,” social worker Sibghat Baig said, adding that about 2,000 people have been cut off from the rest of the town as the sole bridge was wiped out by the flood.
Reshun's main mosque is seen on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020, after flash floods badly damaged its building. (AN photo)
The Reshun bridge linked Upper Chitral district to Lower Chitral. NGO Al-Khidmat Foundation has connected the two banks of the Chitral River with wooden logs, but not everyone is able to walk through the makeshift span.
The bridge was the only passage to Broghil National Park, where next week Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was going to host its first sports festival since the reopening of the tourism sector in the province after a months-long standstill due to the coronavirus outbreak. The festival has been postponed due to the flooding and destruction.
