Ex-MNA wants restriction on movement of people to Chitral

PESHAWAR: Shahzada Iftikharuddin,  former MNA from Chitral, has demanded restricting the movement of people to his district as part of measures to check the spread of coronavirus.

Shahzada Iftikharuddin said many Chitralis were working in the paramilitary Northern Light Infantry (NLI) in Gilgit-Baltistan and also as labourers there. He noted that many of them were now returning to Chitral due to the countrywide lockdown and loss of jobs.

He said Chitralis working in other parts of Pakistan were also returning to Chitral but there is no proper system to screen them.

As the head of the Association for Mountain Areas Tourism, Shahzada Iftikharuddin pointed out that more than 25,000 people associated with the tourism industry and related sectors such as transport, dry fruits etc had lost their livelihoods and needed to be supported by the government.

He said the district administration had taken over possession of the four to five big hotels in Chitral town and turned them into quarantine centres.

“The hoteliers are cooperating with the government, but the rooms in these hotels aren’t enough in case the coronavirus spreads in Chitral due to the unchecked arrivals of people in the district,” he added.

Published in The News