2,000 Chitralis stranded again

CHITRAL, Feb 15: About 2,000 passengers remained stranded on the Chitral side of the Lowari tunnel on Friday as the width of the road has been narrowed due to snow. Talking to this correspondent on telephone from the site, a human rights activist of Chitral Haji Mohammad Shafa said a section of the road soon after emerging from the second tunnel (1.9kms) has become too dilapidated for the vehicles to pass easily causing the traffic jam. He said while the passengers outside the tunnel were facing freezing cold, those inside suffered suffocation problems due to the emission of poisonous gases by the vehicles. He said the vehicles might take another three to five hours to pass through the affected part of the road. He demanded that the snow be removed from the road to avoid the frequent traffic jams.—Zahiruddin]]>