Tunnel timing: Court approached to issue stay order against govt decision

CHITRAL, Dec 14: Lawyers here have filed a petition with the local court seeking stay order against the decision of the federal government to open the unfinished Lowari tunnel for the public transport for two days on a fortnight basis. President Peshawar High Court Chitral circuit bench bar association, Abdul Wali Khan advocate, and president of district bar association Alamzeb said the court of Syed Ali Raza has fixed December 17 as the date to hear the petition for granting stay order to keep the tunnel opened for three days a week. They said that after the closure of Lowari top road for vehicular traffic, there was no alternative other than the Lowari tunnel to connect the district with the rest of the country but the federal government has decided this year to open the tunnel for the public unlike the past years. They said that in the previous years, the tunnel was opened for the public transport for three days a week which has been changed this year to three a fortnight and this was quite insufficient to meet the demands of the local population. They said that the acute shortage of life saving drugs and food items was imminent in the absence of replenishment for two weeks during the winter season extending to five months. The leaders of lawyers community said that the court has served notices to all concerned including federal secretary of communication, chairman of National Highway Authority and project director of Lowari tunnel project to appear before the court on December 17.–Zahiruddin]]>