Chitral’s agri sector worst hit by floods
Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: Flash floods and glacial lake outburst floods across Chitral have caused abnormal rise in poverty levels as the agriculture sector has emerged as the worst-hit due to the shortage of irrigation water.
The affected villages in Lower Chitral are Sheshi Koh, Ayun, some parts of Bumburate and Rumbur valleys, Arkari, Shoghore, Golen and Koghuzi, and Reshun, Brep, Khruzg, Awi, Booni, Rech, Khot, Parwak, Mastuj and Laspur in Upper Chitral.
Farmers in the effected villages said floods in the streams had washed away the embankments of the irrigation channels, causing discontinuation of water, and as a result all the greenery ranging from trees to crops and grass had started withering away.
In almost all the villages, water for both drinking and irrigation purposes is obtained from springs and glaciers situated in the mountains and uplands, which flow down through the streams.
Sahibur Rehman from Reshun said flash floods in the second week of July swept away the embankments of water channels, discontinuing the flow of water. He said rehabilitation of irrigation channels was beyond the capacity of locals.
He said crops of paddy, maize, pulses, vegetables, fodder and fruit trees had started withering away.
Mr Rehman said the local people chiefly depended on farming for sustenance, and the drying up of plants, crops and all types of vegetation meant they had been deprived of their major source of income and food.
He said every household raised livestock for milk and meat, but the destruction of vegetation meant they would not be able to rear them anymore. He said many families also sold milk products to earn a living.
“The famers in my village have started selling their animals, including cows, oxen, sheep and goats, as vegetation has disappeared and they will have nothing to feed,” he said.
“Now the poor people will have to purchase milk from bazaar daily, which will be an additional burden on their pockets,” he added.
Rehman regretted that the government had yet to start restoring the irrigation channels.
The villages of Brep, Arkari, Karimabad and Booni are famous for producing bumper crop of apple and other fruits, but not this year for want of water.–Dawn