Chitral-Booni road cleared of snow: district admin

By Zulfiqar Ahmad

ISLAMABAD: The district administration Chitral on Monday said that relief goods were distributed among Shershal avalanche victims through helicopter requisitioned by the deputy commissioner Chitral Shahab Hamid Yousafzai. Additional Assistant Commissioner Chitral Syed Mazhar Ali Shah told ChitralToday that a naib tehsuildar had reached Shershal village this evening on the special orders of the DC to distribute Rs300,000 cheques per head among the victims. “The tehslidar reached the village [Shershal] on foot and in first phase Rs300,000 cheques per head will be distributed among the victims. The overall situation is under control as local people have already accommodated them, while district admin in high alert,” he added. He said that more relief goods will be sent to the village via helicopter on Tuesday as there was enough stockpile both in Shogore and Susum, which will be sent to the village. He said that heavy snowfall that blocked Lokuh road would be opened shortly as C&W department had already started clearing the snow. He said the Chitral-Mastuj roadw as opened up to Booni on Monday. He said that the deputy commissioner had given standing orders to open all the roads as soon as possible, and he is personally monitoring all the work, as the priority of the district administration is to open the roads. He said that Chitral-Drosh road which was blocked at Saidabad village near Drosh was opened for all kind of vehicular traffic by the district administration, adding the roads inside the town were cleared of the snow. He said that work on Booni-Mastuj, Booni-Murkhow and Booni-Torkohw roads had also been started, and officials of tehsil administration are working round the clock as the DC had orders to clear the roads on war footing. When contacted, commandant Chitral Scouts Col Nizamuddin Shah, told ChitralToday that his men were on high alert to cope with any untoward incident. He said that sorties of relief goods sent by provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) on the special orders of the military were dropped from an MI-17 chopper at Siwakht village, the nearby village of calamity-hit Shershal village situated at distance of 45 kilometres. “The Chitral Scouts along with a local MPA dropped the sorties of relief goods via an MI-17n helicopter…we only play the role of a mediators and the good which were dropped today, were sent by the PDMA on the intervention of the military,” he added.]]>