CHITRAL: Local elders here on Wednesday asked the National Highway Authority (NHA) to open the #Lowari Tunnel to traffic in the face of a looming shortage of food items in Chitral after the closure of the Lowari Top.
The demand came at a meeting presided over by Deputy Commissioner of #Chitral Shoaib Jadoon. The meeting was held to explore the possibility of opening the Lowari Tunnel during the winter.
Deputy Commissioner Shoaib Jadoon told the meeting that he had informed the corps commander Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary and other high-ranking officials about the problems being faced by the local population due to the closure of the Lowari Tunnel.
Project Director of Lowari Tunnel Hameed Hussain said initially it had been estimated that the project would be completed at a cost of Rs5 billion, but the cost had now jumped to Rs18 billion. He said the company undertaking work on the project has to be paid Rs800 million dues. He said the previous provincial government would open the Lowari Tunnel for three days a week after signing an agreement with the company that it would receive Rs0.3 million on a daily basis.
Hameed Hussain told the meeting that who would take the responsibility if any untoward incident occurred as blasting was being carried out inside the tunnel for expansion. “Expansion work is taking place in the tunnel. Who would be responsible if it crumbled,” he questioned.
He said the vehicles travelling through the tunnel emitted poisonous smoke, which could cause the death of the passengers due to suffocation. He feared that the mega project could be scrapped if the locals insisted on opening the tunnel.
Reacting to the points raised by Hameed Hussain, Abdul Wali said from the reasons given by the project director, it seemed the NHA was in no mood to open the Lowari Tunnel during the winter. He took the plea that the tunnel had been in the use for the last four years and no unpleasant incident has occurred.