Pakistan flood victims throw note pleading for help

“We require supplies, we need medicine and please repair the bridge, we are left with nothing now. ” All those are the contents of the handwritten note villagers in the Manoor valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province threw to our team during our visit.

Hundreds of them are stranded across the river after a flash flood hit the region on Fri, destroying at least ten bridges and dozens of buildings.

Manoor valley is located upward in the mountains associated with Kaghan – a famous tourist location in Pakistan. The particular valley has been strike by a torrential flood that killed at least 15 people, including women and children.

Flash floods hidden away the only cement bridge connecting the particular scenic valley to the main city. Since that time, all the villages on the other side of the river are actually cut off and resident are waiting for assist.

The BBC’s team reach the valley after a dangerous one-hour drive in which the road was broken at many points due to the flooding and landslides.

In Manoor, two bridges have completely collapsed and a temporary wood bridge has been built. Here, we meet up with a woman sitting along with her belongings. The girl tells the BBC she can see her home but is not able to reach it.

“My home plus my children are on the other side of the river. Seems waiting here for two days now thinking the federal government might come plus repair the link. But authorities are telling us that individuals should start walking around lack of the mountain to achieve our homes. But that’s a hike of eight to ten hours. I am a well used woman. How can I stroll this much? ”

She waits for some more minutes and leaves when the rainfall starts again and water flowing beneath the temporary wooden link begins to swell upward.

We see males, women and children seated outside their mud houses on the other side from the river. They influx at us considering we are government officials.

It is then that some of them toss us a piece of paper throughout the river, packing this into a plastic bag filled with stones in order to throw it aside of the river where we are filming. This is the only way they can communicate with the other part of the village these days. Mobile networks do not function here.

The handwritten letter bears information about the loss they are coping with and also requests supplies plus medicine for the trapped villagers.

“Many people are sick and can’t leave the village on foot. Kindly get the bridge built, it’s the main connection with the city, ” the particular letter says.

“We need items. We need a street , inch Abdul Rasheed, sixty, tells us while speaking of his ordeal. He has lost his wagon to the flood — his only way of earning money to give food to his family.

“There are many other people who taking their property and way of income, ” he admits that. “They need help. They require food. There was a little market here that was swept away. Shops had all the food and supplies.

“My home is on the other side and today I’ll have to walk for eight hours to reach my home. How can I do that such an old age? inch he asks.

Many shops and hotels have been ruined here. Soheil great brother have lost their particular mobile phone repair shop towards the flood.

He shows the BBC he’s three families to feed and is unsure about his long term now. “I how to start what to do. No one comes here to help all of us as we deserve. Every single shopkeeper here is worried. They are all poor people who may have big families in order to feed, ” he says.

“These regulators and politicians arrive here for photo periods and fun. They come, take photos and leave. No one will be helping us. ”

But the deputy commissioner of the district tells the BBC an extensive rescue and relief operation was carried out immediately in the area and everything the hotels are actually evacuated. He adds that an assessment was already made about property damages.

“We have completed the assessment and overflow victims will be paid soon, ” he or she states. “Work has started regarding renovation of the bridge, however it will take some time. inch

In Pictures: Floods and fright in Pakistan

While the government blames climate change for the flooding, communities are usually criticising government and local authorities for allowing builders to construct hotels on the banks from the river.

“These hotels and markets blocked the organic waterways, and so we are witnessing much bigger losses due to the surges which could have been avoided easily, ” states another resident in the primary market of Kaghan.

Many resorts are built on the banking institutions of the River Kunhar in Kaghan and the adjacent valleys. Surges have destroyed a number of them, along with a police place and a religious school.

A few 100 metres from the law enforcement station, a family rests in a temporary tent right on the river’s bank. They say eight members of their family were washed aside by the same ton.

Heavy down pours and floods are usually wreaking havoc across Pakistan.

More than 1, 000 people have already been killed while countless numbers have been displaced. Authorities say at least seven hundred, 000 homes were destroyed.

Along with millions waiting for meals, drinking water and protection, rescue teams are struggling to reach these types of cut-off communities. Provinces like Sindh and Balochistan are the worst affected but tremendous mountain regions in Khyber Pakhtunkha are also terribly hit.

Pakistaner troops have also been called in to assist help agencies in reaching the flood-affected locations as road links have been damaged as well as the only way to achieve most communities is by using helicopters.

Pakistan’s authorities is also appealing to pleasant countries, donors and international financial institutions to help them in coping with the calamity.

Are you currently affected by issues protected in this story? Are you experiencing family or close friends in the region? Please get in touch by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc. co. uk .

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