MPA demands daily three-hour opening of Lowari tunnel
ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: After the Lowari tunnel was closed on the Chitralis due to heavy snowfall on Tuesday night, Ghulam Muhammad, the member provincial assembly from upper Chitral, demanded that the federal government should keep the under-construction tunnel open for vehicular traffic for three hours a day during the whole winter season.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, the MPA said due to heavy snowfall Lowari top had been closed for vehicular traffic and hundreds of people were stranded on both sides of the tunnel.
He also said he would raise the issue in the provincial assembly in the next session and would call upon the federal government to direct the National Highway Authority (NHA) to keep the tunnel open for three hours a day in winter.
He said the people of Chitral are facing great hardships due to closure of Lowari pass and the opening of the tunnel is only way out to make their movement easy. He noted that the area is yet to receive the stock of grain and other edible items especially used during the winter season.
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Actually we have 3 MPAs this time including Sardar Hussain providing us more opportunity to put our case to the larger forums.
Who is not demanding that. The job of the elected representatives is to make things happen, not demand through press statement.
Why only three hours? Why not 8 hours from 8 am to 4 pm both way traffic simultaneously as was done two years ago. No clogging, no pollution, no security risk of hundreds of vehicles entering together. Remaining 16 hours work for the NHA and SAMBU is enough. They don’t work more than this in any case. It is only a matter of timing adjustment. All the three reps i.e the MNA and the two MPAs should jointly meet the PM for this purpose immediately.