HARIPUR: The residents of Sarral village in Rehana union council have built a hillside path on their own to link the area with the Haripur district headquarters.

Sarral, which surrounds Hazara division’s largest Chajiyan waterfall, is the central point of over six small adjoining countryside localities with a population of over 2,500, and stands in the southeast of Haripur city at a distance of 34km.

The villagers said the area had been neglected by authorities though it had many tourist attractions and remained the electoral block of the Rehana union council, the native village of Field Marshal Ayub Khan.

“It’s one of the most backward areas of Haripur as the villagers don’t have access to basic facilities like road, water, school, dispensary for decades,” said resident Azeem Iqbal.

Demand govt funds for road construction

He said despite repeated requests by residents, the local political leadership didn’t address their issues.

He said the residents of Sarral, Chapriyan, Tahra, Siribang and neighbouring small and scattered localities had to cover a five kilometers long hilly terrain on footto reach the Chajiyan village and even they had to carry patients on cots.

“Sometimes, patients die before catching the van for the health facility in Haripur,” said resident Abdul Waris.

He said many men suffered shoulder injuries by carrying patients, especially women, on the narrow hilly terrain.

”Disillusioned by political parties and local leadership, the villagers decided to pool their savings to build the road on a self-help basis,” said Abdul Jabbar.

He said the villagers used chisel and other sharp objects to break heavy stones, and completed a five kilometers strip of the 4-6 feet wide road at the cost of Rs1.5 million.

“Villagers excavated the soil and soft rocks with shovels and built retention walls at several points of the path as they know no one will come to their help,” he said.

The villager said the money was collected from within the community, while the Al-Khidmat Foundation contributed Rs 410,000 for the hillside path project.

He said the villagers were working to turn the path into a paved road wide enough for vans.

Abdul Qayyum, Tabeer Hussain Shah, Habibullah, Mohammad Bashir and other villagers said if the government allocated funds for a proper road from Sarral to Chajiyan, it would not only improve people’s lives but also promote tourism in the area, which had Chajiyan waterfall and beautiful hills.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2023