PESHAWAR: The residents of Chitral on Sunday staged protest to demand opening of the Lowari Tunnel for traffic.
Led by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader and former Member National Assembly (MNA) Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, the protesters marched on the Grand Trunk Road. They were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans in support of their demands.
Former union councillors including Abdul Haq, Shamsher Khan, Fazlur Rehman Buni, Maulana Khalil Ahmed, Abu Ayub Ansari, Qari Kausar Niazi and Qari Abdullah were also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Maulana Abdul Akbar said the federal and provincial government were least bothered about taking solid steps to keep the Lowari Tunnel open for at least four hours despite their repeated protests.
He said the people of Chitral were being meted out step-motherly treatment as no arrangement for alternative route was made after the closure of Lowari Top. “The elderly people, patients, women and children have stranded on both sides of the tunnel but no arrangement has been made to facilitate them,” he added. He said most of the passengers had returned to Peshawar due to closure of the tunnel under inconvenient circumstances.
Abdul Akbar Chitrali said that the officials of the National Highway Authority (NHA) were creating embarrassment for the passengers. He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had announced a package of Rs200 million for the project but the amount was yet to be released. The leader asked the government to release at least Rs50 million out of the 200 million to the NHA to keep the tunnel open for four hours a day without further delay.
Published in The News 30 Dec 13