CHITRAL: Residents of Koh, Charun and Mastuj union councils have demanded of the National Highway Authority (NHA) to include vital culverts in the design of Chitral-Shandur road project to ensure irrigation water flow to the areas along the under-construction road.

Talking to local journalists at Chitral Press Club led by the district president of PML-N, Abdul Wali Khan advocate and others here on Sunday, they lamented that due to the shortage of water to the various areas of villages from Kari to Booni, the cereal crops including vegetables and fruit orchards had started withering away.

They said that the NHA officials were approached in this regard right from the beginning of construction work on the road three years ago to address the issue but they didn’t pay any attention to their complaints.

“The negligence of the NHA officials has now created a major issue for the dwellers on the left bank of the road, as they are unable to dig or break the road to allow irrigation water to pass through it, which could have been directed beneath the road through a culvert structure,” they slammed.

Abdul Wali Khan added that the road had been aligned in such a way that it passed through the centres of the villages of Kari, Raagh, Koghuzi, Mori Lasht, Mroi, Barenis, Reshun, Kuragh and Parwak. They warned that the situation would become much problematic if culverts were not provided at the necessary points in these villages.

The version of the NHA’s project director for Chitral-Shandur road couldn’t be obtained despite repeated attempts by Dawn as his cell phone was inaccessible.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

Trump 2.0
Updated 07 Nov, 2024

Trump 2.0

It remains to be seen how his promises to bring ‘peace’ to Middle East reconcile with his blatantly pro-Israel bias.
Fait accompli
07 Nov, 2024

Fait accompli

A SLEW of secretively conceived and hastily enacted legislation has achieved its intended result: the powers of the...
IPP contracts
07 Nov, 2024

IPP contracts

THE government expects the ongoing ‘negotiations’ with power producers aimed at revising the terms of sovereign...
Rushed legislation
Updated 06 Nov, 2024

Rushed legislation

For all its stress on "supremacy of parliament", the ruling coalition has wasted no opportunity to reiterate where its allegiances truly lie.
Jail reform policy
06 Nov, 2024

Jail reform policy

THE state is making a fresh attempt to improve conditions in Pakistan’s penitentiaries by developing a national...
BISP overhaul
06 Nov, 2024

BISP overhaul

IT has emerged that the spouses of over 28,500 Sindh government employees have been illicitly benefiting from BISP....