The Swat district administration is under intense scrutiny after 14 tourists tragically drowned during a sudden flash flood on the Mingora Bypass on June 27. The Irrigation Department has blamed the local authorities for failing to act on multiple flood alerts issued well before the disaster unfolded.
According to department officials, alarming rises in water levels were observed early that morning. At 6:30am, 6,000 cusecs of water were released from Khwazakhela, which surged to 26,000 cusecs by 8:30am and spiked further to 66,000 cusecs just 30 minutes later. By 10:30am, the flow reached a dangerous 77,000 cusecs, prompting formal notification to the Swat administration. Despite these escalating alerts, no preventive measures were taken to restrict public access to vulnerable riverbanks.
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Sources also revealed that since mid-June, flood monitoring units were actively functioning across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as part of monsoon preparedness. Yet, local response in Swat was slow and ineffective. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) was also notified, but failed to act promptly.
The drowning incident, which claimed lives of several families including tourists from Sialkot, has triggered public anger and raised serious concerns about inter-agency coordination. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah admitted there was a critical 45-minute window where lives could have been saved but termed it “a small mistake that became a major tragedy.”
The provincial government has announced Rs1.5 million in compensation for the families of each victim, as public calls grow louder for accountability and reform in emergency response systems.
