Glacial burst sweeps away two bridges in Chitral

CHITRAL: Two suspension bridges near Arkari village in Chitral’s Garam Chashma area were washed away in a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) on Thursday.

GLOFs are sudden events that can release millions of cubic meters of water and debris, causing loss of life, property and livelihoods among remote and impoverished mountain communities.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) confirmed the development, adding that teams had been sent to the area to help local people, who used bridges to cross a storm surge flowing below.

Rashid Khan, the focal person of Chitral PDMA, said that no loss of life or damage to any other infrastructure had been reported so far. However, the floods have damaged wheat and other fruit crops in the area.

The PDMA, Khan said, is in constant touch with the district administration and monitoring the situation in the area. In a separate statement, PDMA DG Sharif Hussain said that the control room in the area was fully operational. “In case of any emergency or untoward incident, residents can call our helpline at 1700,” he added.