CHITRAL, May 7: The flood-affected people of Green Lasht village in upper Chitral have sought government’s help for the rehabilitation and protection of their houses and land.
The small Green Lasht village was badly hit by floods last year. As a result, about six houses were washed away while 10 others were damaged partially. Hundreds of acres of cultivable land also faced soil erosion after the flooding in the river. Due to the increase in the water level in the river, the residents of the area started migrating to safer places to save their lives and belongings.
A woman told this scribe that she was worried about her newborn baby and could not sleep at night due to the fear of the floods. Some affected people are living in a temporary tent provided to them by a non-governmental organization but they complained that they were never supported by the provincial or the federal government.
Syed Sardar Hussain, the newly-elected MPA from PK-90, visited the affected area and met the flood victims. He assured them of raising voice on the floor of the provincial assembly to attract the government attention toward their issues. The residents of the area have appealed to the federal and provincial governments to construct a protection bund and safety wall on the bank of the river to save their houses and cultivable land.
It may be mentioned that a common graveyard of the village was badly hit by the flood. The local people had to dig out the bodies of their near and dear ones to bury them in some safer place.