Broghil residents demand restoration of old road

Bashir Hussain Azad

CHITRAL: The residents of the remote Broghil valley in Upper Chitral have demanded that the government should construct the old Silk Road that linked their area with other parts of the world.

They regretted that the residents near the border of Afghanistan still lived in deplorable condition due to absence of a road to other parts of Chitral. The residents still have to spend at least a week to reach Chitral town from Broghil, which is located at a distance of about 250 kilometers. 

Addressing a press conference here, Umar Rafi, Syed Mukhtar Shah, Rehmat Nawaz, Akram Ali Shah, Ghulam Ali, Taj Ali Baig, and others said that the Broghil road was used by ancient traders from Central Asia for trade in the markets of India and other countries using horses and ponies.

While the old trade on the Broghil road came to an end with the advance in means of communications, unfortunately, the fate of the remote area remained unchanged, rather condition of the locals deteriorated as they remained cut-off and without basic facilities of life. All this was because of the callous attitude of successive governments who ignored the Broghil valley since creation of Pakistan.

They said that construction of a grain godown had been started in Broghil many years ago but the project was abandoned incomplete after spending millions of rupees on it.

The locals said Broghil was important in security point of view and had lots of resources. The area could be made a tourist hub by constructing the road and providing facilities. They asked the government to allocate funds for the development of Broghil and start work on the construction of the road to the area.