CHITRAL, Oct 03 (APP):As autumn deepens across the rugged valleys of Chitral and winter approaches, families displaced by the devastating August floods are facing a race against time to rebuild homes, restore livelihoods and secure shelter before temperatures plunge. For 62-year-old flood victim Sabir Ali, the race has become a deeply personal struggle as he, along with his family, is working tirelessly to complete their stone-made house before snowfall. Every …
Chitral flood victims race against winter, accuse CM Afridi of prioritising long march over relief
CHITRAL, Oct 03 (APP):As autumn deepens across the rugged valleys of Chitral and winter approaches, families displaced by the devastating August floods are facing a race against time to rebuild homes, restore livelihoods and secure shelter before temperatures plunge.
For 62-year-old flood victim Sabir Ali, the race has become a deeply personal struggle as he, along with his family, is working tirelessly to complete their stone-made house before snowfall.
Every morning, he returns to the debris of his stone-built house in Broze village, near Chitral city, where he works with his sons to clear mud, stones and debris left behind by the flash flood that struck Lower Chitral on August 11.
His wife joins them, carefully collecting stones and bricks that can still be reused.
There is no heavy machinery at the site and no contractor is supervising the work. The family is rebuilding largely with its own hands and whatever resources it can gather.
For Sabir, however, every stone removed from the debris represents a step towards restoring a home that was destroyed within hours.
“The flash floods apparently caused by cloudbursts badly damaged our house and swept away our household belongings, increasing our hardship immensely,” Sabir told APP as he cleared debris from the site with a hoe.
Among the belongings lost were furniture and household items that Sabir had purchased for his daughter’s dowry after years of saving.
Those possessions, he said, represented not merely material goods but years of family effort and hopes for the future.
Today, his family is living in a tent provided by a philanthropic organisation while he attempts to construct a new stonemade house before the onset of severe winter.
“We want nothing extraordinary from CM Afridi Govt. We only want a house where we can live with dignity,” he said.
Sabir’s story mirrors the plight of many flood-affected families in Lower Chitral who are still waiting for rehabilitation assistance while attempting to rebuild homes and restore livelihoods on their own.
Broze village, situated along the Chitral-Peshawar Road, still bears visible scars of the disaster. Residents said floodwaters washed away a bridge over Gumbus Nullah and swept away several shops, while a makeshift bridge over Broze Gol Nullah was also destroyed.
The floods also damaged foundation work for a permanent bridge being constructed in the area, while a vital irrigation channel in Broze Gol was destroyed.
For a community heavily dependent on agriculture, livestock and fruit farming, the damage extends well beyond houses and roads.
Residents said maize crops and fruit orchards, particularly peach and apple orchards, were also badly affected, threatening an important source of household income.
Irshadullah Chitrali, another flood victim, said he had managed to complete the basic structure of a three-marla house on self help basis after his previous home was washed away, but construction had stopped because he had run out of money.
“I have completed the structure but cannot afford to finish the remaining work,” he said, expressing hope that the provincial government would provide interest-free loans or other financial assistance to flood victims so they could complete their homes before winter.
Former member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from Chitral Salim Khan said the district had suffered extensive damage in the August floods and that affected families required sustained rehabilitation support.
He criticised the PTI government for what he described as inadequate attention to the needs of flood victims and urged Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to visit Chitral, review the rehabilitation situation and accelerate relief and reconstruction efforts instead of wasting energy and resources in an aimless long march.
Salim Khan also pointed to the district’s broader challenges, including fragile infrastructure, limited healthcare facilities, unemployment, education needs and inadequate access to clean drinking water.
He urged the provincial government to give priority to rehabilitation in disaster-hit areas.
Salim Khan accused CM Afridi for overlooking problems of thousands of floods victims and concentrating on funds raising for an aimless long march.
Residents said that for people living in tents or partially damaged houses, the approaching winter has transformed reconstruction from a long-term need into an immediate necessity.
The problem is particularly acute in mountainous communities where severe cold and snowfall can make construction difficult and further expose vulnerable families.
The floods have also renewed concerns about the environmental pressures facing northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Former Conservator Forest Department Gulzar Rehman said the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events should be addressed alongside issues of forest conservation, land-use planning and disaster preparedness.
He attributed part of the vulnerability of communities to deforestation, soil erosion and construction in vulnerable areas, while calling for stronger measures to protect forests and prevent encroachment in riverbeds.
He also advocated greater use of alternative energy sources, including solar, hydropower, biomass and wind energy, and called for stronger action against illegal logging and encroachment.
KP Forest Department spokesperson Latifur Rehman, however, said the provincial government had strengthened forest protection mechanisms under the KP Forest Ordinance 2002.
He said the forest force had powers to take action against timber smugglers and seize illegally transported timber, while forest check-posts had also been established in merged districts and along major roads to curb timber smuggling.
Environmental experts have nevertheless called for stronger enforcement, speedy legal proceedings against illegal logging, improved communications and greater mobility for forest personnel.
They have also stressed the importance of international climate financing and adaptation support for vulnerable communities in developing countries.
For the people of Broze, however, global climate debates remain secondary to the immediate question of survival.
Sabir’s priority is the small patch of land where his home once stood.
The flood took away his possessions, damaged his house and disrupted his family’s life. What remains is a pile of stones, salvaged construction material and a family determined to begin again.
Under the October sun, Sabir and his sons continue clearing the debris while his wife gathers usable stones and bricks nearby.
There is no certainty about when the new house will be completed.
But there is determination among many flood victims. Every stone placed on the foundation is a small act of recovery for a family that lost almost everything to the flood.
And as winter approaches, Sabir’s unfinished house has become more than a construction site but a symbol of the struggle of Chitral’s flood-hit families to rebuild their lives before the mountains turn cold.
For him, rebuilding of house is not a choice but a necessity to live with dignity. He has already begun, one stone at a time dedpite limited financial resources.
