Chitralis stranded on way back home due to lockdown

CHITRAL: While the district administration did not allow any transport vehicle to cross the Lowari tunnel into Chitral, some people coming from down districts had no other option but to cross the passageway on foot on Tuesday.

Picture: Najibullah Tajik

There were reports that hundreds of people returning to Chitral from different parts of the country were stranded in different cities due to the lockdown.

The lockdown remained effective in the town and nearby areas on Tuesday, partially because of the incessant rain throughout the day. Only a few shops of fruits and vegetables were open but there were very few buyers.

Meanwhile, dozens of passenger vehicles bound to Chitral were stopped at Timargarah on Tuesday morning. Many others have started moving to Chitral by hiring private taxies. Their ordeal did not end after reaching Chitral and the passengers were trying to reach their destinations on foot.

Incessant A large number of Chitralis go to Islamabad to work as construction workers in the winter and return home after March. ChitralToday has learnt that most of them have been directed by their employers to leave the sites and go away.

Four labourers from Brep on Tuesday were asked by the owner of an under-construction house to leave. They were frantically calling their relatives in Chitral about the closure of the tunnel and other roads and could not get confirmed reports. Finally, they hired a 2D car and left the area.

Many other labourers either remain without work or due to frequent rains could not continue their work. Two labourers from laspur valley working in Islamabad told ChitralToday that they wanted to go home but their contractor is not coming to the site to pay their areas. On the other hand, their parents were asking them to return home.

A youth going to Chitral told ChitralToday on phone that he and three other people were going home after booking a 2D car from Peshawar but they were stopped at Timargarah.

He said they were stopped in a hilly area and not being allowed to proceed. There are scores of vehicles stranded here at the moment, he added.