Chitral back to 1960s?
CHITRAL, June 2: At last, after remaining closed for over six months, the Lowari Top road was opened for traffic on Sunday. View Larger Map An official of the Chitral police at the Ashrait post confirmed that the road had been opened for light vehicles after clearing snow and avalanches on both sides of the Lowari Pass (10,230 feet above sea level). The road had been closed in the first week of December 2012 after heavy snowfall and the traffic had been diverted to the unfinished Lowari tunnel which used to be opened for the public three days a week for limited hours. The people of Chitral blamed the National Highway Authority (NHA) for the inordinate delay in the reopening of the Lowari top road. The NHA is the custodian of the Chakdara to Chitral segment of the National Highway (N-45). The people said it was for the first time after 1960s that the road had remained closed for more than six months. Gujar Khan, a taxi driver on Chitral-Dir route, said the road used to be opened for traffic by the second week of April in late 1960s when there were no heavy road machinery available.–Zahiruddin]]>
The NHA made history by opening Lowari pass road on June 2nd 2013 for traffic after exposing people of Chitral to severe humiliation at the tunnel which was opened only for three days on a weekly basis in the winter. The new KPK as well as the federal governments have announced to fight corruption at every nook and corner of the country. We understand Lowri pass is not opened by NHA rather the snow melted down on its own due to the weather change. In this connection, it is requested to the federal government and the provincial authorities to initiate an inquiry why such a delay was made by the NHA in opening of the road. It may also be mentioned that Shandur Pass is situated at a higher altitude than Lowri Pass but it was opened on April 29 while Lowari pass was opened so late.
We request to CM Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to initiate an immediate inquiry into the matter and we also take it as a test case for the new government led by the PTI which claims to have zero tolerance for corruption.