MANSEHRA: The police and wildlife department rescued three students who went missing amid snowfall at the base of the Malika Parbat mountain range in Kaghan Valley on Friday night.
‘These three young students from Gujrat, Punjab, were visiting Saiful Muluk Lake and had ventured into the high-altitude parts of the valley. They remained stranded for several hoursbefore we rescued them and brought them back to Naran,’ sub-divisional wildlife officer Abdul Rasheed Tanoli told reporters on Saturday.
Abdul Manan, Adil Asif and Haris Ali, aged between 17 and 18, were stranded in the high-altitude parts of Saiful Muluk National Park amid heavy snowfall. As darkness fell, they lost their way back, became frightened of possible attacks by wild animals, and managed to make an emergency call to the police helpline 15.
‘A joint team of the police and our department moved to the mountainous area where they were possibly stranded. After several hours of a hectic search operation, we finally traced them and shifted them to Naran,’ Mr Tanoli said.He said intermittent snowfall and adverse weather conditions had hampered the rescue operation.
He added that the rescued students received medical care, meals, and accommodation before returning to their respective destinations.
The fresh spell of snowfall, which began on Friday evening, continued intermittently until the following morning in Babusar Top, Battakundi, Basal and around Saiful Muluk Lake.
According to members of the local community, the fresh spell brought the mercury down, making the weather colder. The police also restricted tourists’ movement towards the upper parts of Kaghan Valley amid the snowfall to ensure the safety of visitors and passengers.’We have temporarily suspended traffic on Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road after it became slippery following the fresh spell of snowfall,’ an official said.
He advised visitors to avoid travelling to high-altitude areas of Kaghan Valley and urged drivers to exercise caution on roads leading to mountainous destinations.
OLD BUILDINGS, SHOPS RAZED: The Upper Kohistan administration has demolished old commercial buildings and shops and retrieved government land allegedly occupied by locals in different parts of the district.
‘We have launched the second phase of the anti-encroachment drive. We have demolished dilapidated commercial buildings and shops and retrievedgovernment land,’ Upper Kohistan deputy commissioner Azizullah Jan told reporters on Saturday.
The district administration also demolished shops and commercialbuildings along the Karakoram Highway in Kamila and Seo. ‘We are demolishing old buildings, but not the ones that have historic value,’ Mr Jan said.
‘The KKH is being cleared of encroachments. Buildings and shops falling within its right-of-way are being demolished,’ Mr Jan said.
He said Seo Road, which was heavily congested and where traffic remained mostly blocked because of encroachments, had now been largely cleared.
He added that in some areas, owners of commercial buildings and shops had voluntarily vacated public land.