Chitral: Rain, snowfall bring life to a standstill

CHITRAL, Feb 27: Rain and snowfall for the last three consecutive days have brought routine life in the valley of Chitral to a standstill. The prolonged rain and snowfall have also blocked many roads inside Chitral besides cutting the valley off from the rest of the country. Hundreds of people are stranded in Chitral waiting for the opening of the roads to move to their destinations within Chitral and outside of it. Chitralis intending to return home are also stranded in Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Dir. For the last many weeks the PIA has also not operated flights to Chitral and the recent rain and snowfall have given it another excuse to suspend its erratic service to the valley. Because of the unprecedented rain and snowfall this year, people in all parts of the valley are facing shortage of edible items and fuel. the situation has been exacerbated by the PPP government’s illogical and unwise decision to close the Lowari tunnel in the winter in the name of ongoing work inside the tunnel. the fact of the matter is that nobody travelling through the tunnel has seen any worker or machine at work inside the under-construction tunnel.]]>