NHA asked to carry out survey for realignment of of Shandur road
CHITRAL: District nazim Maghfirat Shah has demanded National Highway Authority (NHA) carry out a survey for realignment of Chitral-Shandur Road to make it an all-weather road.
In a statement, he said the NHA team ignored the complications and sensitivities associated with the topography of the area through which the 147-km road passed. He said the team bypassed the mountainous tract needed for the safety of passengers and uninterrupted flow of traffic.
The nazim said the proposed road would pass through a number of hilly terrains where falling of boulders started in winter season and during rain while the road surface turned slippery.
“The road project is designed to be an alternative route of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which enhances its importance and makes it obligatory on NHA to choose a route that is free from natural hazards to the least degree.”
He said the stubbornness of NHA will spoil the road project and deprive the people of Chitral of the benefits of all-weather road.
Mr Shah said the road at Chitral-Booni section needed to be diverted to other side of the Chitral River in Kuju village and in Mroi Bala to Prayeet village to bypass the highly risky mountainous terrains where fall of rocks and boulders during the winter season blocked the road and put the travellers at risk.
At Mastuj-Laspur section, the road was vulnerable to the falling rocks and boulders throughout the year from the mountain and the road was blocked for weeks that claimed many lives, he said. He added that diversion to the opposite side of the river was unavoidable.