03 April 2016•Update: 10 April 2016
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
A fresh spell of heavy rainfall and flash-flooding -- the second in less than a month -- has killed at least 30 people in northern and northwestern Pakistan and cut several villages off from the rest of the country, officials and local media reported Sunday.
Most of the deaths -- mainly due to building collapses -- have been reported from the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) province and the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region on the border with China, Pakistan’s national disaster management authority said.
Torrential rainfall and flashfloods have caused landslides in several parts of KP and Gilgit-Baltistan, blocking roads and cutting remote villages off from main districts.
It is the second such rainy spell in less than a month to hit the two regions, where scores of people were killed and injured in rain-related incidents in March.
Water levels in the Swat River have risen dangerously, forcing KP’s local government to issue flood warnings for the Swat Valley and the nearby Shangla, Chitral, Buner and Dir districts.
Due to soaring water levels, the local administration has moved hundreds of people living along the riverside to schools and other government buildings elsewhere in their respective districts.
Local television channels have broadcast footage showing fleeing residents wading through knee-deep water in search of higher ground.
Gilgit-Baltistan’s chief minister, for his part, has declared a state of emergency, urging citizens to desist from unnecessary travel as hundreds of vehicles remain stuck throughout the region due to landslides.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, meanwhile, has directed the authorities to accelerate rescue-and-relief operations in rain-hit areas.
Pakistan’s official meteorological agency has forecast more rainfall in both regions.
