Residents moved to safety after landslide threat in Kaghan valley

MANSEHRA: The Balakot tehsil administration on Monday shifted residents from around three dozen homes to safer locations in Kaghan valley after a large mass of earth and rocks broke away from a mountain and began moving downhill.

Balakot Assistant Commissioner Hasrat Khan told reporters that the evacuation was ordered after a revenue department team submitted a report warning of a possible disaster. He said families living in nearly three dozen houses in Bara Lower Paghal as well as the neighbouring villages of Nika Paghal and Charri Paghal had been relocated.

Hasrat Khan said he had also written to the Mansehra deputy commissioner to inform him about the looming danger in the area. He added that arrangements had been made to split the large rocks through controlled blasting and that the administration had sought technical and manpower support from the management of the Balakot hydropower project for that purpose.

Paghal village council chairman Mohammad Rafique called on the district administration to act quickly to ensure the safety of villagers threatened by the landslide.

In a separate development, a Rescue 1122 team removed debris from landslides on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road in the Kawai area of Kaghan Valley on Monday, restoring traffic on the route.

Protest over killing of bike rider

Also on Monday, residents of Kohistan staged a rally in Mansehra and demanded that the provincial police chief order the arrest of those responsible for killing a young man who was operating a bike ride-hailing service. The protesters warned that if the suspects were not arrested within 48 hours, they would block the Karakoram Highway.

Hajab Qureshi Kohistani, who took part in the rally, said, “Unknown people had booked Iftikhar for a ride, but later killed him at a deserted place in the Shahlia area some five days ago, but the police have yet to arrest the killers,”

The participants began their march from outside the press club, moved through different roads in the city and later returned to the same venue. During the demonstration, they chanted slogans in support of their demands and against the police.

Mr Qureshi said, “The police have failed to maintain law and order in Mansehra as another biker was attacked and seriously injured recently,”

Another protester, Gul Khan, said their families had moved to Mansehra from Kohistan after the devastating 2005 earthquake, but police had not provided them with sufficient protection.

Abdul Malik, a councillor in Mansehra, also appealed to the Hazara DIG to ensure the arrest of those involved. He warned, “If the killers of Iftikhar are not arrested within the next 48 hours, we will block the KKH in Kohistan and Mansehra simultaneously,”