Chitral bypass' original site plan changed to benefit influential

CHITRAL, June 16: People affected by the launch of the bypass road in Chitral have accused the communication and works (C&W) department of demolishing scores of shops just to save the building of an influential person. Former MNA Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali said the department had messed up with the original plan of the bypass and created so many turns on the road which could be dangerous for the traffic. He said the bypass was supposed to be a separate and alternative route to minimize the traffic rush on the old road that passed through the congested Chitral bazaar. He said demolition of hundreds of shops near the polo ground and the museum gate to save the one shop of the influential person was highly condemnable. Abdul Nasir, a human rights activist, said the C&W consultant at Peshawar had admitted that the present bypass was not according to their original design and that the C&W local staff had made the changes for their their own interest. Haji Usman Gul said he worked in a foreign country for years and spent his hard-earned money on the construction of 18 shops which were demolished by the C&W department illegally dragging the bypass road into them. Another shopkeeper, Nasir Khan said the consultant had already marked during their survey/designing the shop of the influential person for demolition but the C&W local staff spared the building at the cost of the poor people’s shops. They appealed to Chief Minister Pervez Khattak for ordering an inquiry into the matter and take action against the responsible officials.]]>