Bad weather may bring flooding and landslides

Pakistan's meteorological department has warned people to prepare for floods and landslides in the southwestern province of Balochistan as a result of heavy rain and snowfall forecast over the next few days. "A strong weather system is entering Pakistan from the west. As a result, heavy widespread rain and storms are expected in Balochistan and parts of Sindh province. We've forwarded the forecast to the relevant crisis management authorities to take appropriate measures to meet the flood and landslide threats," Muhammad Saeed, a meteorologist at the National Meteorological Office, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Widespread heavy rain and snowfall over the last week have cut off many northern parts from the rest of the country. At least 10 people, mostly children, have been reported dead as buildings collapsed in the districts of Mansehra and Batgram in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), according to the provincial Crisis Management Cell (CMC). "As many as six children have been reported dead due to roof collapse, while the road and telephone networks across the upper northern districts of Kohistan, Chitral, Swat, Mansehra, Abbotabad and Batgram have been badly disrupted. Several link roads in the valleys are blocked due to landslides and heavy snowfall up to an average of four feet [1.2 m] across the region," Sultan Muhammad of the CMC, told IRIN from Peshawar, capital of NWFP. But the large amounts of rain and snow are not unusual, according to the authorities. "During the last five years, the country had been receiving 'below normal' snow levels whereas this winter it fell within the limits of 'normal'," said Saeed. An earthquake of about 4.8 magnitude jolted the districts of Batgram and Mansehra, about 100 km north of the capital, on Saturday afternoon. There were no report of deaths or injury. However, the aftershocks have sparked a wave of panic amongst the population. "The northern Hindu Kush mountain range is an active seismic zone. Only quakes measuring six and above on the Richter scale are potentially damaging ones but we are not faced with any danger of avalanches or mudflows mainly due to the scattered population in the hilly areas," Omar Hayat Ghalib, a seismologist at the National Meteorological Office told IRIN in Islamabad. At least 26 people were killed and 40 were injured when two earthquakes, measuring 5.7 and 5.5 on the Richter scale hit the same area last February. Numerous houses, schools, roads and buildings were reported damaged as a result of the quakes.