\’EU envoy deliberately not taken to flood-devastated Brep\’

CHITRAL: Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of European Union (EU) to Pakistan Dr Riina Kionka on Sunday said she would try to find out facts why she was not taken to Brep in Upper Chitral devastated by repeated GLOFs during her visit to Upper Chitral a few days ago, Chitral Today has learnt.

Dr Riina Kionka on Saturday had expressed satisfaction with the level of community resilience against natural disasters in Chitral and promised her organisation’s help and support to scale it up.

During a daylong visit to Booni, the district headquarters of Upper Chitral, Dr Riina went to the sites of climate change mitigation projects and prefabricated homes built by the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) for flood-hit families. 

However, netizens accused officials of AKAH and the district administration of deliberately not taking the ambassador to Brep and other areas devastated by GLOFs.

In a tweet, the ambassador stated: \”I suggest trying to find out the facts before assuming the worst: I was in fact headed to Brep but turns out there was a logistical problem getting there so was not possible.\” 

It may be noted that last week there were two protest gatherings in the flood-affected village of Brep where the participants severely criticized the government as well as AKAH for their failure to rehabilitate the villagers and take steps to protect the village from further devastation by dredging and cleaning the nullah despite making promises.

The participants said soon after the floods last year, AKAH officials had visited Brep and promised to dredge the nullah on the condition that the locals would dispose of all their goats and sheep.

They said razing goats in the mountains was the main cause of flooding and without stopping this practice other precautions would be an exercise in futility.

On their suggestion, the local people sold off their goats at throwaway rates but the AKAH officials never visited the village again even after repeated appeals.

Since 2007 glacial lake outburst floods (GOLFs) in one of the two streams have washed away at least 60 percent of the village, rendering hundreds of families homeless.

Last year, the floods again hit the village obliterating more houses and land. Most of the  displaced families live with their relatives while others have no other option but to stay in squalid tents in the flooded areas.

Moreover, the floods filled debris on the pathway of the stream, endangering the remaining parts of the village, especially on the right side of the nullah.

The areas in the village so far safe from the flooding are now vulnerable to it. These areas include houses, markets as well as the basic health unit (BHU), newly-built Jamat Khana, one mosque, a godown and three government schools, local people told Chitral Today.