Lowari tunnel again ignored in federal budget

ISLAMABAD, June 7: The Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) federal government has once again disappointed the people of Chitral by making a meager allocation of Rs2 billion in the PSDP 2014-15 for the Lowari tunnel mega project.

It was also PML-N government which had earmarked only Rs1 billion in last year public sector development programme (PSDP), which was peanuts for the timely completion of the under-construction mega project initiated by former president Pervez Musharraf. Insiders claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was least bothered about the Lowari tunnel as it was initiated by his archrival Gen Pervez Musharraf – a rivalry for which the Chitralis have to pay the price.

MNA Chitral Iftikharuddin, who also voted for Nawaz despite being elected on the ticket of Gen Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), moved from pillar to post to take him to Chitral but the premier always opted to stay away from going to the stronghold of the hot-headed commando.

However, the people are still optimistic that he would embark upon a visit to Chitral sooner or later with an assurance to complete the tunnel within the stipulated time besides announcing other uplift schemes for the district which was once the bastion of his party.

The people warned that the step-motherly treatment being given to the people of Chitral by the PML-N could go to the advantage of the PTI-led coalition government in Khyber Pakhtuhkhwa which had already allocated Rs3 billion for the tunnel compared to Rs1 billion of the federal government last year. Prime Minister Sharif used to be a popular leader in Chitral prior to a coup d’état by Gen Musharraf in 1999, following initiation of work at the much needed Lowari tunnel on the demand of Chitralis, for which he bagged two seats in 2013 general elections – a bitter pill for PML-N that Prime Minister Sharif could not swallow.

Rampant corruption by contractor and timber mafias in connivance with heads of local political parties, both federal and provincial governments have failed to bring a slight change in the area – a complete disappointment for Chitralis, forcing them to go for full-throated slogan ‘Pervez Musharraf zindabad’ in every nook and corner of the valley.