CHITRAL, Nov 20, 2025: Work has yet to restart on the Kalash valleys road even after the deadline given by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his recent visit to Chitral.
The road scheme linking the Bumburate, Birir and Rumbur valleys was launched a decade ago by the National Highway Authority (NHA) during the last PML-N government, but despite repeated assurances, its completion still appears nowhere near.
Rahmat Elahi, a former nazim from the Kalash valleys, said that even though the prime minister took notice of the public’s complaints about the extraordinary delay, not a single phase of work had resumed following his visit.
He observed that NHA officials might have submitted an overly optimistic and misleading progress report to the prime minister, especially considering the significant tasks still pending, including the construction of a crucial bridge over a nullah in Ayun.
Mr Elahi noted that the project entails extensive rock cutting over more than 15 kilometres, a segment on which work has not even started, while the subsequent levelling, dressing and eventual asphalting of the 48km road make completing the project within the PM’s announced timeframe “virtually impossible”.
He added that after the PM’s visit, several high-ranking officials, among them the federal secretary of communications, inspected the site, yet actual work on the ground had still not recommenced.
When approached, PML-N spokesman Niaz A. Niazi Advocate admitted that the road project would not meet the deadline set by the prime minister. He however maintained that the PM had been provided inaccurate and incomplete information by NHA officials in order to avoid facing his displeasure over the prolonged and continuing delay.
Published in Dawn.
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