Passengers facing prolonged troubles

CHITRAL, Jan 11: People reaching here from Peshawar and Islamabad through the under-construction Lowari tunnel narrated tales of suffering and inconvenience with long wait under the open sky on the southern portal of the passageway in the Dir side. They said that though the tunnel opened at 12 noon first transport going out of Chitral were allowed to pass through the tunnel keeping in view that they had to travel long distances to reach their destinations in Peshawar and Rawalpindi/Islamabad and other cities. “Our bus left Rawalpindi at 9:30pm on Friday and reached the tunnel at about 10am,” said Yaqut Ali Shah from upper Chitral’s Brep village after reaching here along with her daughter from Islamabad. He said they reached Chitral from Islamabad after 24 hours. He said that after reaching the tunnel they had to wait for over four hours amid freezing temperature. People accompanied by children, women and elderly persons are suffering a lot, he added. He was of the view that after construction of a waiting by an NGO, passnegers going out of Chitral had got the facility at the tunnel’s Chitral side but there was a dire need of such a waiting room in the Dir side too.]]>