Work still not started to reopen many roads: Salim Khan

CHITRAL: Former minister and PPP leader Salim Khan has said work to reopen blocked roads is dead slow and in many affected areas neither any official or public representative has visited nor work started to reopen the roads.

Hundreds of houses have been damaged in Lotkoh tehsil alone in the rain and snow while residents of Arkari, Parsan, Karimabad and Garam Chashma are cut off due to the blockade of roads, he said in a statement. 

Similarly, the roads to Kalash valleys, Junjiret and Shishikoh are also closed and no significant progress has been made to clear them of boulders and debris. 

He said the reopening work by the NHA and C&W department should be expedited as the weather has become sunny so that people of the blocked areas could be reached.

It may be noted that the government departments including the NHA and C&W lack machinery for clearing the roads.

The intensity of the damages caused by the heavy rain and snowfall that continued for over four days has been enormous in Lower Chitral.

The magnitude of the damages to public and private properties such as houses is yet to be assessed as almost all the affected areas in Garam Chashma, Kalash valleys and Shishikoh are still inaccessible.

However, Salim Khan appealed to the government to arrange resources to cope with the situation on a war footing otherwise the blocked areas could face more crises such as shortage of food items.