MANSEHRA: Tehsil Administration Balakot on Monday evacuated around three dozen houses and relocated their inmates to safer places following a large chunk of mountainous earth dislocated from its place and could roll down over the populated area in Kaghan valley.
“Yes, we have ordered the evacuation of the locals following a team from the Revenue department submitted a report of possible catastrophe,” Hasrat Khan, the assistant commissioner of Balakot, told reporters.
The families living in around three dozen houses at the endangered Bara Lower Paghal and adjacent Nika Paghal and Charri Paghal villages have been relocated to safer places.The assistant commissioner, in an official letter addressed to the Deputy Commissioner Mansehra, stated that a large slicing rock poses serious threats to residents in the Lower Paghal, Nika Paghal and Charri Paghal areas.
“We have been making arrangements to fragment the rock through a controlled ballasting operation, and for this purpose, the management of the Balakot hydropower project has been approached to provide the technical assistance, required blasting materials and personnel to carry out the explosion process,” the letter further revealed.
The AC said that the response by the hydropower projects was still being awaited, as the movement of the people in the widely scattered area would be cut off during the operation.The chairman of the village council, Paghal, Mohammad Rafique, said they also demanded that the district administration, through the Balakot tehsil administration, take swift measures to ensure the safety of the villages.
He said that the administration should blast that widely starched rock to eliminate the possibility of its landslides rolling down with widely starched earth over villages.Meanwhile, the Rescue 1122 team has cleared the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road, which was blocked by landladies in the Kawai area of Kaghan valley.
