Tourists evacuated as Kaghan Valley's ground link restored

Kaghan Valley's ground link has been restored, and 95 per cent of the stranded vehicles of tourists were evacuated through a temporary route on Monday morning.

According to the 24NewsHD TV channel's report, the ground connection to Kaghan Valley has been temporarily restored, facilitating the evacuation of tourists and locals. 

The channel reported that 95% of the tourists have been successfully evacuated from the valley, and now hotels from Kaghan Valley to Naran Valley have become empty.

However, 120 vehicles remain stranded in Mahandri, the channel reported, adding that last night, 150 vehicles were successfully evacuated through the temporary route.

The channel reported that the stream's water flow increased last night, causing traffic on the temporary route to be halted.

According to the report, once the temporary route is fully repaired, the evacuation of the remaining tourists and locals will be completed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the construction work of a new bridge at Mahandri is also underway. However, a decision on how to break the dam formed by the lake on the Kunhar River has yet to be made.

Seven days ago, the Kaghan Valley's road link was disconnected after the bridge collapsed on the Manoor rain drain, trapping many tourists. While the flow of the River Kunhar was stopped due to the debris of the Manoor rain drain, which is posing a serious threat to the Mahandri market, Mansehra.

Moreover, lake water entered the basements of nine hotels in Mansehra, while 14 hotels and more than 50 shops were affected by the rainwater.

Reporter: Syed Noman Shah