Protesters reject nighttime opening of Lowari tunnel

About 500 vehicles were stuck at the Drosh bazaar and Mirkhani waiting for the opening of the tunnel. One of the passengers said as the tunnel was scheduled to open on Friday, people had left their houses for their destinations in the down country. But after reaching Drosh early o Friday, they were told that the tunnel would be opened after 5pm.n There were also reports that hundreds of people coming to Chitral from other parts of the country had stranded in the Dir side of the tunnel as due to the heavy snow the Lowari top road was closed. The government had earlier announced that the tunnel would remain open on every Tuesday and Friday after the closure of the Lowari top road. But now it is not being opened to the on the pretext of the ongoing work inside. Passengers including women and children are suffering from humiliation and facing troubles while lying on the road in the freezing cold, said the traders union representative. Speaking at the protest gathering after the Friday prayers, speakers including former district council chairman Khueshid Ali Khan, Qari Jamal Abdul Nasir, Khosh Nawaz, Qari Niazuddin of Rahe Haq party, Akmal Bhutto of the PPP, Qari Fazal Haq of JUI-F, Haji Inzer Gul and others rejected the government decision to open the tunnel after 5pm on every Tuesday and Friday. Qari Nizamuddin on the occasion slammed the district nazim and said he had been busy in leg pulling to save his chair doing nothing for the resolution of the public issues. The speakers asked the government to restore the old schedule of daytime opening of the tunnel. They said that if the old schedule was not restored on Tuesday, a grand public gathering would be held in Drosh on Friday next and the vehicles of NHA and Sambu would not be allowed to operate in the area. ]]>