Staff Correspondent
RESHUN: The Chitral–Mastuj Road remained completely closed for about 24 hours at Reshun due to an ongoing protest by local residents. the protesters however, allowed stranded travellers to proceed to their destinations by opening the road for two hours on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier, tension gripped the area when the district police officer (DPO) of Upper Chitral reached the protest venue along with armed police personnel and removed stones placed on the road to reopen it. However, the protesters chanted slogans and later dozens of women also joined the sit-in.
A leader of the Reshun Power Tehreek, Amir Ullah, said that they decided to open the road for two hours in order to help the travellers to move to their destinations. The protest will continue and the road would be blocked again till the demands of the protesters are met, he added.
The blockade brought traffic to a standstill, causing significant difficulties for passengers, tourists and transporters travelling between Upper and Lower Chitral.
The protest has been going on by local people against longstanding issue of electricity crisis and rising tariffs for local power production. Last night, some protesters left the protest site and traffic was restored. However, they again assembled on the road and continued their protest.
As a result of the protest, a large number of travellers are stranded on both sides of the only road linking upper Chitral with other parts of the country.
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