Dubair valley residents await rehabilitation of schools, roads
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MANSEHRA: Schools, roads and health facilities that were washed away during the devastating 2022 flash floods in the Ranowalia area of Dubair valley in Lower Kohistan have yet to be rehabilitated, depriving indigenous communities of education, healthcare and proper communication access.
“Four years on since the devastating flash floods washed away our houses, schools and health facilities, we are still deprived of education, road and healthcare services due to government apathy,” Saifullah Shaheen, a local student, told Dawn on Sunday.
Dubair and Ranowalia villages were among the worst-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the 2022 floods, which swept away houses, roads, schools and health facilities, leaving the area’s infrastructure in ruins.
“The premises of Government Higher Secondary School in Ranowalia was filled with rocks and stones carried over by powerful torrents have not yet been cleared, forcing students to move to other parts of Hazara division to continue their education,” Mr Shaheen said.
He added that the only college in Ranowalia was also washed away in the floods over three years ago, but the government had failed to reconstruct it.
KILLER HELD: Police have arrested a man who allegedly killed his wife earlier this month and attempted to pass off the incident as a highway robbery.
“The incident, in which a woman was killed and her husband sustained bullet wounds while putting up resistance against highway robbers, created fear in society. However, we uncovered the facts and arrested the accused,” deputy superintendent of police Mudassar Zia told a press conference at Pulrah police station on Sunday.
He said that on December 5, Mohammad Sohail had lodged an FIR claiming that robbers opened fire on him and his wife when he resisted a robbery attempt in the Shahkot area of Pulrah.
“According to the FIR, the couple was returning home after a medical check-up of their four-year-old daughter when masked robbers intercepted their car at gunpoint and opened fire at around 7 pm,” the DSP said.
Mr Zia said the case initially appeared to be a blind murder and posed a major challenge for the police as sniffer dogs were also brought to the crime scene and nearby localities, but no leads were found.
“After thorough investigation and forensic analysis, it was revealed that Mohammad Sohail, who is still under treatment at a local health facility, killed his wife because he wanted to marry another woman,” the DSP said.
Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2025
