Quetta-Chaman highway blocked after landslide; traffic comes to standstill

QUETTA: Traffic between Quetta and Kandahar was suspended on Friday after a landslide at Khojak Pass on the Quetta-Chaman national highway in the wake of heavy rains and flash floods.

Trade and other commercial activities with Afghanistan were affected as a result and a large number of trucks carrying transit goods were seen stranded in the Shella Bagh area of the Chaman district.

The trucks coming from Afghanistan loaded with fresh fruit, vegetables and other goods were stuck at the Chaman border.

Levies officials said flash floods from nearby mountains after heavy monsoon rains lashing the Chaman and Qila Abdullah districts caused heavy property and financial losses.

“Big boulders and mud fell on Khojak Pass, blocking the Quetta-Chaman highway and suspending the vehicular traffic,” a senior Levies official said, adding that efforts were under way to clear the road and restore traffic.

He said rain and floodwater also affected the railway line in the Shella Bagh area. “The Quetta-Chaman train service remained suspended for two days,” Levies officials said.

However, Pakistan Railways officials said the track linking Quetta with the border town of Chaman was intact and floodwater had not entered the Shella Bagh tunnel.

“The train services remained suspended for Chaman for two days as the passenger bogies of the Chaman train were used for a special Eid train from Quetta to Punjab and Karachi,” senior railway official Muhammad Kashif told Dawn, adding that the train would leave for Chaman from Quetta on Saturday.

He said the railway staff concerned had already been put on high alert in view of heavy rains lashing the entire province.

Meanwhile, four dams were washed away in the Toba Achakzai area of Chaman district due to heavy rains near the Pak-Afghan border area, which caused heavy flooding in downstream areas of Toba Achakzai.

“Over 200 houses were washed away in the flash flood,” Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue Chaman Munir Durrani said, stressing that the provincial disaster management authority should immediately provide homeless people with tents and other relief goods.

Balochistan Chief Secretary Abdul Aziz Aquili visited the Qila Abdullah district, where floods damaged or washed away many dams. Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has ordered an inquiry into dams’ substandard construction and raw materials.