DLP Report
PESHAWAR
Three days after flash floods devastated Chitral, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister and PPP leader Saleem Khan on Friday accused both the provincial and federal governments of abandoning the district, saying infrastructure has collapsed, links with the rest of the country have been severed, and no senior official has visited the area.
Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Mr Khan said the floods that hit Chitral on August 3 had washed away dozens of small and large bridges, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged irrigation channels, standing crops, roads and petrol pumps, and claimed three lives.
“The entire infrastructure has been destroyed. Hundreds of houses and bridges have been swept away by the floods and Chitral’s link with the rest of the world is completely cut off,” he said.
According to Mr Khan, people in remote valleys are now forced to walk 6 to 10 hours to reach Chitral city because the main highways are unusable.
He criticised the KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and provincial ministers for not issuing even a statement, and said neither the National Disaster Management Authority nor the Provincial Disaster Management Authority had launched relief operations despite having “countless funds for disasters.”
“The provincial and federal governments have adopted the role of silent spectators as if Chitral has no connection with Pakistan,” he said.
Mr Khan also raised the issue of unspent relief money, alleging that Rs530 million allocated by the provincial government for the 2022 floods had “never reached Chitral and disappeared along the way.”
He further expressed disappointment at the role of KP Assembly Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi, saying she had not raised an effective voice for Chitral in the assembly. “Even when she did speak, the matter was handed over to a deputy commissioner,” he added.
The PPP leader demanded that the provincial and federal governments immediately declare an emergency in Chitral and conduct a damage assessment to begin rehabilitation work with full transparency.
“If an emergency is not imposed and relief operations are not started in Chitral soon, we will be compelled to stage protests on the roads,” Mr Khan warned.
