MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan governments on Monday agreed to adopt a joint strategy to promote tourism in the two regions.

The development came during a meeting chaired by deputy commissioner Adnan Khan Bittani and attended by the representatives of the KP and GB governments.

The DC told reporters here that the meeting decided to ensure the safety of travellers at Babusar Top.

“We are going to establish checkposts at Babusar Top for the safety of people travelling between KP and GB by the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road,” deputy commissioner Adnan Khan Bittani told reporters here.

Mansehra DC says security checkposts to be set up at Babusar Top

He said the traffic between KP and GB had been restored to travellers after remaining suspended since November last year due to the blocking of the MNJ Road by snowfall in the Kaghan Valley.

Also, the DC met stakeholders of the hospitality industry in Kaghan Valley in his office and decided to facilitate visitors to Kaghan Valley during Eid days.

The meeting was also attended by MPA from Balakot Munir Hussain Lughmani, district police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur, president of the hoteliers association in Kaghan Valley Seth Matiullah, heads of the communication and works department, National Highway Authority, Kaghan Development Authority and tehsil municipal administration.

“We have banned heavy traffic from Hazara Motorway to Shatay and Balakot Road on Eid to facilitate visitors on the way to Kaghan Valley,” Mr Bittani said.

He said in case of landslides, the NHA would immediately clear the MNJ Road to traffic.

“Police will guide visitors and ensure their security in Kaghan Valley during Eid days and beyond,” he said.

CLASSES DEMANDED: Local body members and other residents of Danda Kholian village council on Monday demanded of the government to initiate intermediate classes at the area’s only higher secondary school for girls.

“Extra classrooms were built many years ago to launch intermediate classes at the local high school but the government has yet to initiate higher secondary classes, so local girls quit education after matriculation,” chairman of the Danda Kholian village council Mohammad Irfan told a presser in Oghi tehsil.

He said he along with a group of locals met the education department’s high-up seeking the launch of intermediate classes at the high school, but to no avail.

“People can’t afford extra expenses to send their daughters to colleges or higher secondary schools in Oghi and Mansehra, so the girls quit education,” he said.

Mr Irfan demanded that local lawmaker Akram Ghazi play his due role in the early start of intermediate classes.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2024