Bashir Hussain Azad
Chitral, June 20, 2026: Former provincial minister and PPP provincial vice president Saleem Khan has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to include the Chitral–Dorah Pass road project in the current Annual Development Programme (ADP), warning of public protests if the demand is not met.
Speaking at a press conference at Chitral Press Club along with local leaders, Saleem Khan said the exclusion of the project has deeply disappointed the people of Chitral. He emphasized that the road is of national importance as it would connect Chitral with Tajikistan.
He stated that the project had been included in the development programme in 2017 during the tenure of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif but was later dropped during the PTI government.
Saleem Khan said the total length of the road is 82 kilometers and argued that allocating funds for it should not be a major challenge for the government, especially given its strategic and defense significance.
He also criticized the government for neglecting Chitral in its development priorities and expressed dissatisfaction over limited allocations for other road projects in the region.
Highlighting alleged corruption, he claimed irregularities worth Rs530 million in provincial departments, adding that many development projects in Upper and Lower Chitral exist only on paper.
He warned that if the Chitral–Dorah Pass road project is not included in the development programme within the next few weeks, the public would be mobilized to take to the streets in protest.