Rowshan Banu, Govt Girls High School Booni
At midnight on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, the residents of the village of Booni close to the local glacier heard a huge explosion and became alarmed.
They knew that the centuries-old glacier, about 80 kilometres north of Chitral, had burst and the whole village was under thrust. Within minutes of the blast, a mud flow from the glacier started moving towards the village, which has a population of 15,000 people.
Residents of the most vulnerable area in the village, who first heard the explosion, started evacuating their homes and also informed people downstream to leave the area as soon as possible.
After July 28, flood water started to recede and people from the village started to return to their homes, working on irrigation channels for their crops.
But again on Monday, August 10, 2010 at 10 pm the glacier burst once more and this time the residents had no other option but to head for nearby villages. Humanitarian assistance in the form of tents was provided to the displaced but this proved to be inadequate.
It is the peak season for the harvesting of the wheat crop, which may have been damaged altogether. The Booni residents are in a deep state of depression because of the devastation caused by the glacier. I saw damage to houses, bridges, water mills and cultivated land.
Some villagers again returned to their homes. I personally visited the households that were affected and conducted a number of interviews.
One resident Amir Wali said that he would not leave his home despite the damage caused by the flooding. “I will die inside my home,” he said, adding that he had sent his family to live with relatives.
Others, however, are abandoning their homes but people with vehicles are demanding high prices to transport their belongings due to fuel shortages. Lack of food is also a concern. Both problems are the result of the area being cut off from the rest of the region.
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