Khuz, Dewangol residents still look for start of work on road construction

The alternative road from Khuz-Dewangol side on the right side if the river would not only ensure round the year traffic on Chitral-Yarkhun road but would also link the three villages of Dewangol, Khuz lower and upper with other parts of the valley. Talking to ChitralToday, Muhammad Saeed Khan Lal of Dewangol said MPA Sardar Hussain had promised to materialize the project and assigned former Mastuj tehsil nazim Shamsur Rehman to remain in touch with him for the follow up. He said a few months ago Mr Rehman informed him that Rs10 million had been sanctioned for the project and out of it Rs8 million released to start the work. However, he said, after that there was no progress on the development with the local people waiting for the launch of the project.

The construction of the alternative route from Khuz side on the right bank of the river up to Istach has long been on the priorities of the government. This would resolve for good the chances of the Yarkhun valley being blocked with the collapse of the bridge on the river Yarkhun near Istach village.

However, the government is reluctant on launching the project due to the opposition from the people of Brep as the alternative road would keep them away from the main road. Secondly, the road through a mountain in front of the northern part of Brep is prone to rock falling and can be dangerous for the commuters. Keeping these factors in view, the government has for the time decided to construct an alternative road from Khuz to the bridge in the north of Dewangol and rejoin it with the Yarkhun road in the northern part of Brep. This would help the commuters to avoid bring blocked in the southern parts of Brep in case of floods and link up the three villages as well. Mr Saeed Khan Lal said the residents of the small Dewangol village had for long been requesting the successive governments for the installation of chairlift over the river as the village remained cut off in the summers. The pedestrian bridge was damaged by the river flooding recently. He said as there was no school in Dewangol, children from the village had to travel on foot daily to Brep and back. He demanded that the work on the road should be started without any delay to resolve the communication issues of the people of the area. He called upon the MPA to direct the officials concerned to expedite the work.]]>