{"id":12952,"date":"2025-07-08T12:04:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12952"},"modified":"2025-07-08T12:04:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:04:05","slug":"k-p-govt-dismisses-senior-officials-after-swat-river-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12952","title":{"rendered":"K-P govt dismisses senior officials after Swat river incident"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has removed the Director General of Rescue K-P and the Director General of the Upper Swat Development Authority following the recent drowning of tourists in the Swat River, said officials on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The provincial inspection team submitted a report blaming the Swat Development Authority for administrative delays, reported Express News.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The report also raised concerns over the DG Rescue\u2019s lack of technical expertise in handling such emergencies.<\/p>\n

The incident, in which several tourists drowned due to a delayed rescue operation, had already led the provincial government to suspend six officers earlier.<\/p>\n

Read: Sudden water surge caused Swat tragedy<\/p>\n

As part of the latest action, K-P Rescue\u00a0DG’s\u00a0services have been handed over to the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA), while the DG of Swat Development Authority has been removed from his seat and assigned a non-operational role, effectively removing him from active administrative duties.<\/p>\n

Commissioner’s findings<\/p>\n

The decisions follow\u00a0a detailed report submitted by the\u00a0Malakand commissioner to an inquiry committee investigating the mishandling of the rescue operation.<\/p>\n

The drownings in Swat have\u00a0sparked criticism on lack of emergency preparedness in the region, especially during peak tourist seasons.<\/p>\n

Read more: Construction along Swat River diverted water flow, leading tourists into danger: report<\/p>\n

The provincial government\u2019s disciplinary action underscores growing concerns over tourism safety and crisis response mechanisms in the area.<\/p>\n

According to official reports, 17 tourists\u201410 from Sialkot, six from Mardan, and one resident\u2014were caught in floodwaters after entering the river in Khwazakhela despite visible risks.<\/p>\n

Four tourists were rescued, while 12 bodies were recovered. Rescue efforts for one missing person are ongoing.<\/p>\n

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) described the flood level as \u201cvery high\u201d. The sudden surge raised the Swat River’s flow from 6,738 to 77,782 cusecs within hours, leaving little chance for those trapped to return to safety.<\/p>\n

Also Read: DC Swat removed, four officials suspended<\/p>\n

An investigation revealed that nearby construction along the river had altered its natural flow, causing deceptively low water levels at the site.<\/p>\n

This misled the tourists and they entered\u00a0the river. A hotel security guard reportedly tried to stop them, but they bypassed the main entrance and accessed the river through the back. Within 14 minutes of entering, rising water levels prompted a distress call at 9.45am.<\/p>\n

Rescue teams arrived at 10.05am\u201420 minutes after the call. Before the incident, early flood alerts had been issued by the irrigation department at 8.41am.<\/p>\n

Formal warnings were sent to the deputy commissioners of Swat, Charsadda and Nowshera, as well as PDMA and other relevant authorities. A formal flood alert followed at 10.30am.<\/p>\n

The report noted that Section 144, prohibiting swimming and boating in the Swat River, had been imposed from 24 June, but enforcement remained lax.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has removed the Director General of Rescue K-P and the Director General of the Upper Swat Development Authority following the recent drowning of tourists in the Swat River, said officials on Tuesday. The provincial inspection team submitted a report blaming the Swat Development Authority for administrative delays, reported Express News.\u00a0 The report […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12952\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}