MANSEHRA: Work on the flood-hit Dubair-Ranowali Bridge, which links hundreds of villages with the Karakoram Highway in Lower Kohistan district, has been suspended for the last six months, complain locals.

Resident Murad Ahmad Khan told reporters on Monday that the government released Rs210 million funds for the bridge over Dubair stream six months ago but the contractor laid the bridge’s foundation before abandoning the work midway.

Accompanied by a group of local villagers, he said the bridge was washed away by last year’s flash floods as the stream burst its banks.

“The government sanctioned and released Rs210 million for the reconstruction of the bridge but it has yet to be put up,” he said.

Villagers complain contractor left work midway despite release of funds

Mr Khan said that whenever the stream swelled due to heavy rains or flooding, the residents of nearby villages struggled to transport essential goods.

Another resident, Malik Khanzada, said that the people led a miserable life due to the failure of authorities to ensure the early reconstruction of the Dubair-Ranowali Bridge.

“The last year’s floods destroyed many roads and bridges in our area but they have yet to be rebuilt showing the indifference of the relevant officials to our misery,” he said.

He claimed that the district administration fed wrong information about educational facilities, healthcare and infrastructure to the provincial authorities.

ARRESTS SOUGHT: The forest department has formally requested the Mansehra police to ensure the arrest of around 30 timber smugglers.

In a formal communication, the Kaghan divisional forest officer told the district police officer that it had initiated a crackdown on timber smugglers in the region to check illegal felling of trees in forests but needed the police’s support and cooperation for the arrest of such outlaws, who had gone underground.

He named those timber smugglers in the letter and sought their arrest under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960.

The forest officer insisted that despite arrests and confiscation of logs, timber smugglers continued chopping down trees and transporting wood out of the region in an illegal manner besides

spreading “false propaganda against the forest department and its honest and dedicated officials.”

He added that those outlaws had cut trees down in government and reserved forests in Paras and other parts of Kaghan valley.

The officer said timber smugglers should be dealt with strictly under the law.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2023