Kaghan valley: Machinery deployed to pump out water from artificial lake

MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Irrigation Department on Wednesday deployed machinery to pump out the water accumulated in the lake artificially created in Kunhar River following flash floods.

“We are working to drain out water from the lake and clearing Kunhar River’s waterway downstream to ensure the safety of settlements, hotels and shops at Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road,” Deputy Commissioner Adnan Khan Bhittani told reporters.

The Irrigation Department moved its machinery from Peshawar to remove water from the lake, which was created on July 30 as a result of the flash floods in Manor stream. The personnel of the Frontier Works Organisation backed by machinery, are helping to clear the watercourse in Kunhar River and erect a steel bridge at Manor stream, which was swept away by flash floods.

The shops, hotels and a portion of Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road are still beneath the artificial lake.“We are working to erect a giant steel bridge at Manor stream to ensure smooth flow of traffic at MNJ road and clear watercourse in Kunhar River,” the official said. Quoting engineers and technical teams, he said that it would take three to four days to set up the steel bridge.“We have restricted entry of tourists to Kaghan valley until the bridge is built at MNJ road,” Bhittani said.