PPP leaders ask govt to open Lowari tunnel

ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: Member KPK Assembly from Chitral Saleem Khan here on Wednesday asked the government to arrange for the opening of the under-construction Lowari tunnel in winter when the Lowari top road remains closed due to snowfall. He was speaking at a press conference along with PPP Chitral leaders Sardar Hussain, Abdul Hakeem and others at the National Press Club in Islamabad. PTI leader Wg Cdr (retired) Fardad Ali Shah was also present on the occasion. The PPP leaders said that due to the closure of the only land route, Chitral was facing an acute shortage of essential commodities while hundreds of passengers remained stranded in Chitral and on the Dir sides of the Lowari pass. They said that for opening of the under-construction tunnel to traffic, the Korean Sambu company sought monetary compensation. Wg Cdr Fardad Ali Shah said there was lack of governance due to which the people of Chitral were suffering. He said even though the provincial government had agreed to pay Rs300,000 daily to the Korean company, the National Highway Authority (NHA) did not allow the opening of the tunnel for more than three weeks twice a week which was not sufficient to accommodate the rush of passengers.]]>