Gross negligence or incompetence? Swat River sweeps tourists away

PESHAWAR/MINGORA: “We had stopped for breakfast. Our children went for taking selfies. There was no flood in the Swat River at that time. Suddenly, flash flood reached the spot. We kept calling the rescue service for two hours, but they didn’t have necessary equipment.”

These are the words of the remaining family members from Sialkot, who saw their loved ones swept away by the Swat River.

A tour planned to enjoy weather in the serene Swat valley ended up losing nine of their children and three women.

However, they are not alone, as another family saw the deadly scene with their own eyes.

The tragic death of 14 tourists near the Mingora bypass – the main city of Swat valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – in flash flooding have raised some serious questions about the performance of provincial government departments.

Among them, the Rescue 1122 reaching the scene after one hour, failure to depute Civil Defence and local officials to guide the visitors at tourist spots despite the imposition of Section 144, and the absence of Tourism Police make the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government responsible.

THEY WERE IN SWAT TO ESCAPE ROUTINE LIFE

On Friday morning, two families – one from Sialkot and other from Mardan – stopped to have breakfast a local food outlet along the river. In the meantime, some of them moved into the Swat River despite being warned.

Suddenly, all of them were besieged in flash flood.

According to an initial report prepared by the district administration, the gushing river swept away 18 members of the two families. They have recovered nine bodies while the search is on for the rest.

COMPLETE FAILURE

Rafiullah Khan, a journalist from Swat, says the stranded tourists cried for help for more than one hour so that they could somehow be saved. Both the local administration and the rescuers arrived late. However, it didn’t’ make any difference as they lacked the required equipment.

Moreover, Rafiullah says former Swat DC Junaid Khan used to place signboards with a warning and deputed Civil Defence officials whenever flood alert was issued. It isn’t the case now, as the current DC limited himself to Section 144 imposition.

OFFICIAL STORY

As expected, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has responded to the tragedy by suspending the local four officials. They include Swat Additional Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ahsanullah Khan, Babuzai Assistant Commissioner (AC) Nida Iqbal, Khwazakhela AC Amir Khan and Rescue 1122 District Officer Saad Khan.    

On the other hand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rescue 1122 DG Shah Fahd told HUM News that they received information at 9:45am. Four of his officials managed to save the lives of three persons, he added.

Meanwhile, Swat DC Shehzad Mehboob said the incident occurred at 8:30am, after which the local assistant commissioner arrived at the scene along with other officials [from local administration].

He had already imposed Section 144 to stop the people from moving into the Swat River, he added.

As far as the provincial government is concerned, a statement issued by the chief secretary reads that a total 17 – 16 tourists and one local – individuals were stranded in the flash flood. They had saved three, while efforts are underway search others, it adds.

Earlier, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) had issued a flood alert for Swat and other parts of the province five days ago.