A SOS call from Shishikoh valley

Report Ruedad Haider

MADAKLASHT, July 24: Due to the current heavy rains and flash floods, the road to Shishikoh valley has been destroyed and teh area is cut-off from the rest of the district with its inhabitants without any relief or assistance.
Though work on the restoration of the damaged roads, bridges and powerhouses has been started in other areas of Chitral, the valley of Shishikoh has so far failed to attract the attention of the authorities concerned. It is ironic that the backward valley is being neglected even though it is the major supplier of timber and firewood to all parts of the Chitral district. After the devastating floods, the government departments are nowhere to be seen in this scenic but backward valley.
The floods have also badly affected the Govt. High School Birganisar. It is the responsibility of the government to save this school from further destruction and repair it as it is playing an important role in the educational sector of the area. There is no other school in the valley and if this school is further damaged, the whole area would be deprived of education.
The road to the valley is cut-off from Drosh up to Madaklasht. Due to the closure of the road, the people of the area are also facing the shortage of daily-use items. The only health centre of Madaklasht has also run out of life-saving drugs and different kinds of diseases have broke out in the area. But the government and private organizations have not come to the valley to help the stranded populace.
Only the 300 volunteers of Madaklasht tried to connect the road up to Birganisar about 30 km away from Madaklasht temporally but unfortunately it was again damaged by flash floods.
As a citizens of Pakistan we are appealing to the chief minister and local lawmakers as well as the army to take immediate action and provide relief items, especially medicines, to the stranded people of the area.

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