Another road project of Chitral dropped by PTI govt

Dear Editor,

As a resident of the area through which this road was supposed to pass, this news saddened me so much that I decided not to go through the comments and pen down my views about this unjustified decision of PSDP . The people of Mulkhow Sub Tehsil (from Ovir to Terich) have always been relying on the only main road which connects Booni to Chitral. A few years back, during summer vacations while I was in Morder, This area suffered through various avalanches, overflow of the Mulkhow river and mud slide cases at various places. This whole area remained cut off from the rest of Chitral for months as Muzgol, Kosht and Gashtlasht bridges were swept away by sudden floods in the river. Had there been an alternate road to access the capital of the district, the Army Aviation Helicopters would not have run parleys for weeks from Chitral to Kosht. That is when the people of the area realised that there has to be an alternate route to access down district. It remained only a dream until the Ex-MNA Sh. Iftikhar came forward with a proposal of a truckable road from Ovir to Terich passing through the villages of Lone, Gohkir, Shinjuran, Morder, Nogram, Uthul and Saht and crossing over into the Terich valley. Such a road would have opened up numerous avenues of trade and business opportunities for the locals living in these areas apart from giving them an all weather metalled road access to the main Chitral Mastuj road bypassing the perils of temporary shady bridges at three places over the Mulkhow river and also by avoiding the mudslides of Krup risht and Zait. In addition to that, this whole area has remained cut off from the mainstream development due to inaccessibility.

There is a huge potential of promoting eco tourism and tourism in this area-the reason being these are some of the most unspoilt villages of Chitral. We can give countless reasons as to why the flow of foreign and local tourists to Chitral has gone down but one of the main issues is unavailability of local tourism (including sightseeing, local food, sporting events and trekking). This road will give a direct easy access to mountaineers who would want to scale down the Terich Mir. There is a vast plain area at the top spread over the villages of Morder, Muxgol, uthul, Saht and Kushum which can be promoted for summer high altitude games or sporting events. Paragliding can take place there. There is a point atop a mound on the north eastern corner of this vast plainland from where you can take a unique picture of the six peaks of the Hindu raj mountains starting from Koghuzi up to Buni Zom. These places have remained untapped. The futuristic mega water canal project (Atahk) can also be a tourist spot, the centre of all fairytales of the area “Noghor Zom” is easily accessible from this point. If that is the potential of the project what drawback did the PTI Govt. see in it that they decided to drop it? Is it because the people of Chitral didn’t vote for them? or is it because it is NOT that strategically important that it would bring votes to them? or is it just one of those bureaucratic hurdles marred by RED TAPISM which decide the destiny of a project in Pakistan? The Govt. should give a reasonable explanation to the people of this whole area if they call themselves a movement of justice (Tehrik e Insaaf). Would it be okay to shelve down a project for which feasibility was already prepared and consultant engineers had come up with the design too? We expect this govt. to be different from others, we want it to make decisions based not only upon their better judgements but also by keeping in mind the ground realities. Through your esteemed online daily I would request the PTI govt. to look into this matter and give it a second thought. I would also like to request Capt. Siraj ul Mulk-The Advisor to the PM on Tourism to take this up with the PM and the relevant authorities in the best interest of the people of Chitral.
Thank you . Saif.

This is very good and justified decision, you cannot always run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. Chitralis are very un-thankful people they were given record development funds by Nawaz Sharif for electricity, roads, tunnel and gas plants etc but in the end they rejected him in election. from now onward no elected govt will trust and work for you. I would like PTI govt to announce shelving of all other projects at one go.

This mulas just talk about their own protocol, sit on dharna for their own interests like a baby. Go and sit in front of parliament till you die for the interest of chitral. Otherwise I appeal to the chitrali nation never vote for these people in future from the local level to national level.

Nothing can happen now, we have to wait 5 years more.