CHITRAL: The residents have expressed fear that entry of about 100 to 150 people to Chitral daily through the Lowari tunnel can potentially spread Covid-19 in the district, so far free of any case.

The elected representatives, including special assistant to the chief minister on minorities, Wazirzada and MNA Abdul Akbar Chitrali, had asked the government to completely ban the entry of people in the district keeping in view the pandemic threat. They had also asked for enforcing lockdown for two weeks in both the upper and lower districts.

Muzaffar Ali, a former councillor from Drosh, said the people of Chitral had no objection to sealing of the borders with other districts for weeks to keep the Covid-19 at bay. He said the sealing of borders was the only option to contain the deadly virus. He said the government’s ban on inter-district public transport was being blatantly flouted here.

A doctor requesting anonymity said though the passengers entering Chitral through Lowari tunnel were screened at Ashirait and the suspected cases were sent to the quarantine centres, they were still potential threat to spread of infections. He said the health department’s capacity needed to be enhanced through provision of protective kits for the health staff, medicines and doctors to deal with the situation. He said the Upper Chitral district had no district health officer to effectively ward off the impending danger.

When contacted, Lower Chitral deputy commissioner Naveed Ahmed said families could move from one place to another in their private vehicles. However, he said using this concession, the residents of Chitral travelled to the Lowari tunnel by hiring cars. He said the district administration was forced to arrange vehicles for their onward journey to the Chitral city as it could not stop the locals from travelling to their destinations.

He said residents of Upper Chitral were sent directly to their area in police escort, while those of Lower Chitral were quarantined either in Drosh town or Chitral city for 14 days before sending them to their homes. Mr Ahmed said all his appeals to the residents of Chitral living in other districts to desist from travelling here for three to four weeks had fallen on deaf ears.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2020