Shoaib Ansari 
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More than 29 lives have been lost and more than 34 people have been injured in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the monsoon rains, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority reported on Thursday.
The KP PDMA report further added that more than 100 homes were destroyed in the monsoon rains which caused flash flooding and landsliding in various regions of the province.
The PDMA said that in the last 25 hours “partly cloudy weather occurred in most parts of the region. However, rain with wind-thunderstorms occurred at scattered places in Swat, Abbottabad and Kohistan districts. Rain recorded (in mm): Kalam 39, Malam Jabba 24, Pattan 21, Saidu Sharif 19, Bunner 12, Besham 09, Kakul 04, Balakot 03, Timergara 02, Dir 01, Takht Bhai Trace.”
Meanwhile, in its forecast for Thursday, the authority said “Rain with wind-thunderstorm is expected at scattered places in Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan, Malakand, Swat, Shangla, Bunner, Dir (Upper & Lower), Chitral and Bajaur districts while rain with wind-thunderstorm is also expected at isolated places in Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Nowshera, Peshawar, Mohmand and Khyber districts. Partly cloudy weather is expected elsewhere in the province.”
It added that on Friday, “Mainly hot and dry weather is expected in most parts of the province. However, rain with wind-thunderstorms is expected at isolated places in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan, Swat, Shangla, Bunner, Dir (Upper & Lower) and Chitral districts.”
Monsoon spell in 2020 has wreaked havoc across Pakistan with the country’s southern province of Sindh and Balochistan experiencing large-scale devastation causing losses of lives and properties.
Meanwhile, rivers across Punjab are also at risk of flooding. The provincial government has evacuated millions along the banks to safer areas.
Moreover, the KP province is currently experiencing a harsh spell of thunderstorms and winds which are expected to last throughout the ongoing week.
