Lowari Tunnel opening timing a cruel joke with Chitralis
CHITRAL, Dec 2: The district administration of Chitral has announced that the National Highway Authority (NHA) will open the under-construction Lowari Tunnel for two days after every two weeks when the Lowari top road closes in the winter.
According to an announcement issued from the office of Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Shoaib Jadoon, the passengers should travel through the tunnel on the stipulated dates after the closure of the Lowari Top road. It means that the tunnel will be opened for only four days in a month. If a resident of Chitral goes to Peshawar or Islamabad for a small official work, he has to wait there for two weeks to come back to Chitral. What a joke and it seems that those who have set the timing live in a different world and have never seen the hardship of the people of Chitral.
The people of Chitral have very rightly rejected the announcement and termed it a cruel joke with the already suffering public.
Talking to ChitralToday (chitraltoday.net), prominent social worker Abdur Rehman Lal of Mastuj said candidates from Chitral had to travel to down country for tests and interviews on short notice and the mailing system in Chitral was already in a shabby condition.
The district administration of Chitral wants to ruin the future of our youth as they will never be able to appear in the tests and interviews after waiting for 14 long days in Chitral, social worker Abdur Rehman LalEsa Wali Khan, former member district council from Charun, also castigated the announcement by saying that the majority of people of Chitral were poor they cannot afford the simple fare to travel to Peshawar or Islamabad. Now they have to stay in a hotel in Peshawar or Islamabad for two weeks by spending a huge sum of money. He termed the announcement a mere joke with poor Chitralis. Zahid Hussain, former councilor UC Laspur, Punar Khan, Shakur Murad of Surlaspur, Shamsuddin of Karimabad in Lotkoh and Fazle Wahid, deputy general secretary Trade Union Chitral, also rejected the announcement and demanded the government to open the tunnel at least for few hours in a day so that Chitrali passengers can not face any hardship during winter.]]>