PESHAWAR/KHAPLU: At least 36 people have been killed and dozens injured in the last five days as heavy rains and snowfall continue to batter Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, officials said on Monday.
Heavy rains and snowfall last week damaged hundreds of houses and bridges and shut off road and rail routes in several areas of Pakistan, especially in the KP province. In the country’s mountainous northern Gilgit-Baltistan, the main Karakoram Highway (KKH), Baltistan Road and other major highways remained blocked for a third consecutive day on Monday, leaving thousands of tourists, travelers, and traders stranded at various points.
In Balochistan, heavy snowfall brought daily life to a standstill in Quetta and other northern parts of the southwestern province, with main highways and inter-provincial roads blocked since Saturday, disconnecting the province from other parts of the country.
“During the last five days, 35 people have died and 43 people have been injured as a result of accidents due to ongoing rains across the province,” the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said in a statement. “Three hundred and forty-six houses were partially damaged, while 46 houses were completely damaged.”
The PDMA said food and other relief items were being sent to Charsadda, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Malakand, Mohmand, Bannu, Khyber, Bajaur, Nowshera and Peshawar on the orders of newly appointed KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur.
“Distribution of relief items underway including blankets, tents, jerry cans, gas cylinders, water coolers, mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, toilet kits, plastic mats, sandbags, tarpaulins,” the PDMA said, adding the CM had ordered “immediate steps” to reopen blocked roads.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, one person was killed and another was missing after a landslide in the Astore district, according to the Rescue 1122 service.
“When we got the information in the morning, we sent a rescue team to the site of the incident,” Wazir Asad, a Rescue 1122 official in Astore, told Arab News. “Our rescuers have recovered one body and we are searching for the other one.”
Faizullah Faraq, a spokesperson for the GB government, said Gilgit-Baltistan had been disconnected from the rest of the country for the last four days.
“The KKH was blocked at 35 locations. Similarly, JSR [Juglot-Skardu Road] is also blocked at two locations,” Faraq told Arab News over the phone.
“The government is utilizing all resources to connect GB with other parts of the country and facilitate the public. Out of 35 blocked locations on KKH, 30 have so far been cleared and within one or two days GB will be reconnected with other parts of the country.”
The region was also facing disruption in Internet and mobile phone services amid heavy rain and snowfall.
“Due to the heavy rain and snowfall, there is no Internet connection and even the phones are also out of service,” Abdul Rehman Bukhari, a resident of Gilgit, told Arab News.
“There is no alternate connectivity option in GB in case of an emergency. Particularly, freelancers have been badly suffering nowadays.”
Large swathes of Pakistan were submerged in 2022 due to extremely heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers, a phenomenon linked to climate change that damaged crops and infrastructure and killed at least 1,700 people and affected over 30 million.
Pakistan received commitments of more than $9 billion from international donors to help recover from the 2022 floods with rebuilding efforts estimated to cost around $16.3 billion, but little aid has come in so far.
