MANSEHRA: The indigenous community of Dubair in Lower Kohistan has started work to restore Dubair-Ranowali Road along a local stream that was washed away in recent floods, on a self-help basis to overcome travelling difficulties.
‘We cannot shift our patients to health facilities, as the road built along Dubair stream was washed away in flood during the monsoon season,’Salauddin Khan, the district emir of Jamaat-i-Islami, told reporters on Sunday.
He said the Dubair-Ranowali Road, which connects dozens of villages to the Karakoram Highway, was washed away by flash floods in 2010. Since then, residents have been relying on a track built along the stream.
‘Although the district administration has provided an excavator to clear the track, its operation is slow. Therefore, members of the Dubair community decided to reconstruct the road on a self-help basis,’ Mr Khan said.
He said residents had staged a two-month-long sit-in earlier this year, demanding reconstruction of the Dubair-Ranowali Road, which connects the vast mountainous belt to the Karakoram Highway.
However, despite the acquisition of land at a cost of over Rs500 million, work on the project had yet to begin.
‘We also face uncertainty while travelling on this track from March to September, when the stream carries heavy flows. The management of the Dubair Khawar Hydropower Project also opens the spillway, leaving families stranded in their homes and villages,’ Mr Khan said.
He said that in one such incident, five drivers were trapped on rocks amid flooding water in 2023 when the spillways were opened and four of them were swept away in front of their loved ones, who could not come forward to rescue them.
‘People now have no other option but to re-build the road along the Dubair stream to shift their patients and bring essential commodities, Mr Khan said. Correspondent