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Corps commander assures flood-hit people of all-out support

Report Munir Hussyn Fatemi and S.N. Peerzada
KURAGH/BOONI, July 21: Corps Commandant Peshawar Lt-Gen Hidayatur Rehman visited Kuragh in upper Chitral and met the flood-affected people on Tuesday.
[caption id="attachment_28109" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Gen Rehman in Kuragh.--ISPR Gen Rehman in Kuragh.–ISPR[/caption]Earlier, the corps commanded also visited Garam Chashma and other flood-hit areas in lower Chitral.
Addressing a gathering in Kuragh, Gen Rehman said the army had provided rations and was trying to mobilize other resources to mitigate the sufferings of the people in the valley.
“I have great attachment with the people of Chitral and its geographical realities as I belong to Gilgit-Baltistan. I know how it pains when natural calamities hit people but the people of Chitral and GB are very brave and resilient.”
He further said the army had diverted resources, including machineries and choppers besides providing monetary assistance to the concerned institutions so that relief work could be started. He said that two army helicopters would remain in Booni to airlift the stranded people of upper Chitral.
He further said that the army was an organized institution and its allocate fund, rations and its engineers worked for the improvement of the citizens. He said the army would never leave the people alone in such a testing time.
MPA upper Chitral Sardar Hussain thanked the army, especially the Chitral Scouts commandant Naeem Iqbal for cooperating and even spending Eid with the flood-affected people of Chitral. He said it was crystal clear that the people of Pakistan looked towards the army at the times of any need. He openly criticized the irrigation department, C&W, public health etc for their negligence. He said their heads in the district even did not bother to visit the flood-affected areas to express sympathy with the people.
On Tuesday morning, an army helicopter landed at the Khandan ground near the degree college Booni where a large number of people had gathered. Some of the people on the occasion complained that the MPA was making a list of people to be airlifted in the chopper but the names included only ‘VIPs.’
With the flooding in the Bindu Gol and the destruction of the alternative road on the Kosht side, the whole upper Chitral from Kuragh to Boroghil has cut off from the rest of the country. On Tuesday, people complained about unavailability of wheat flour and other essential items in the Booni bazaar and the situation was even worse in other parts of the Mastuj subdivision, including Torkhow and Mulkhow and the Yarkhun valley.
The residents also complained that shopkeepers had started hoarding anticipating a severe shortage of commodities as there is no hope of reopening of the Chitral-Mastuj road anytime soon.
Meanwhile, as the alternative Kosht-side road also blocked, people were seen travelling over the mountain in the south of Kuragh where the river has washed away a portion of the Chitral-Mastuj road.

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