Golen valley inaccessible as roads, bridges washed away
CHITRAL: The residents of 500 houses of Golen remained stranded for the third straight day since the glacial lake outburst flood swept away a road and four suspension bridges on Monday morning.
Officials of Rescue-1122 and charity organisations waded through water to the marooned valley and laid ladders across streams at many places with the help of ropes to facilitate the people reach their destinations.
However, a few could use the ladders as doing so needed proper technique and experience.
A rescue official said the workers of the organisations had helped many people leave or enter the valley. He said water level in the stream was on constant increase.
He said a Rescue 1122 team arranged a medical camp at Bakka village and distributed free medicines among the residents.
Assistant commissioner, Chitral, Abdul Wali Khan said the affected families had been provided shelter and food. He said there was no shortage of wheat in the valley.
Last year too, flash floods wrecked havoc in the scenic valley devastating the poor road infrastructure and rendering the inhabitants homeless.
Besides, water supply lines from the valley to different villages and Chitral town were washed away. The power supply to the Chitral town this year has been cut off as the floods damaged the channel of the 108 megawatt Golen powerhouse.