Work on Lowari tunnel approach roads stopped
GH Farooqui
CHITRAL: Work on the construction of approach roads to Lowari tunnel in Chitral side, that was continuing at a snail’s pace, has now been stopped altogether due to unavailability of funds.
Even 16 years after start of work on the construction of the tunnel, 20pc work is still incomplete on the mega project. The construction company has now stopped work after the government failed to clear its dues.
The National Highway Authority (NHA) had released Rs2.2 billion in 2017 for the construction of the approach roads in Chitral and the project was to be completed in two years, an official told ChitralToday.
In 2018, the tenure of the PML-N federal government ended and the PTI took over. By then, 65pc work on the approach had been completed. The timeframe for the PC-1 also expired and then the PTI government stopped release of funds.
NHA general managed Mujtaba Memon told ChitralToday from Islamabad that they have submitted a new PC-I to the finance ministry and as soon as the funds are released, work at the site will be restarted.
The lowari tunnel has already set a world record of being a tunnel that remains in an incomplete form for the longest time. It is also the only tunnel in the world where barriers are set up at entrance and vehicles held up for at time hours without any reason purely on the whims of the person manning the barrier. Now stopping work on the approach roads is another slap on the face of Chitralis (if we have a face at all).