Flood victims start returning homes

PESHAWAR: The flood affectees, who had sought shelter in camps set up by Cantonment Board Nowshera, has started returning homes after situation normalized.

Hundreds of people were rescued by the cantonment when flood hit the area recently. “Water from upper parts of the district directly hit the city especially cantonment area, submerging almost all markets and shops,” said Cantonment Board Nowshera Chief Executive Officer Zofishan Manzoor.

The returning people were given edibles, blankets, medicines and other necessary items at camps set up at different localities of the cantonment, she said. “Neither a human nor a single animal died in the cantonment that was completely submerged in the flood,” she said. All birds and animals from a nearby zoo were also rescued, she said.

The official said the cantonment administration had set up four camps. She said the district administration had established three camps, sheltering over 2,700 people and hundreds of livestock.

She said that the flood affectees got meal, clean drinking water as well as clothes. She said the cantonment authorities shifted its complete record to a safer place before flood could damage it.

The official said that the flood affected more than 20,000 population living in the cantonment. According to damage assessment, 600 shops and 85 homes owned by the cantonment board were damaged while 2500 private properties including houses, shops and markets were damaged.

The cantonment also provided medical assistance to the affected people and their livestock. The flood also damaged Bagh-e-Jinnah, a two kilometers long picnic spot. She said that several under construction sites were damaged, however, the cantonment administration so far received no funds and financial assistance from federal and provincial governments.