PESHAWAR: Two PPP members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session on Friday warned they would boycott the house and the upcoming Senate elections if the Lowari tunnel was not opened to traffic for six hours daily to the relief of the people of Chitral.

Sardar Hussain and Saleem Khan, both from Chitral, told a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club that the people of their district struggled to reach their destinations on both sides of the Lowari tunnel but the government was least bothered about their misery.

Sardar Hussain said Chitral was cut off from other parts of the country due to snowfall on Lowari top, which had caused shortage of food and petroleum products.

Demand opening of Lowari tunnel for six hours daily

He said the Lowari tunnel was opened to traffic for 12 hours two days a week stressing out the 0.5 million population of the district.

The MPA said an agreement was signed between Sambo Construction Company and the former PPP government to keep the Lowari tunnel open for six hours daily in the winter season, especially during snowfall.

He said work on the tunnel had slowed down over the last two years due to shortage of funds and that the ultimate victim of the problem was the common man.

Sardar Hussain said if the provincial government didn’t mitigate the sufferings of Chitralis and ensure development in the district, then the federal government should take control of the district.

“The centre allocated Rs1 billion in the current financial year for the tunnel, the province is unable to provide the required money for the mega project showing its non-serious approach,” he said.

The MPA said the PTI government had yet to fulfil its pledge of providing Rs3 billion for the project.

He said commuters didn’t pay charges for using the Lowari tunnel forcing the National Highway Authority to close it for general transport at the start of snowfall on January 20.

The other PPP MPA, Saleem Khan, criticised the federal and provincial governments for ‘not providing funds for the project’s timely completion.’

He said during the former PPP-led government, the Lowari tunnel remained open for Chitral in the winter season but the current federal and provincial governments opted to keep it open to traffic for 12 hours two days a week.

Saleem Khan complained that both the federal and provincial governments didn’t provide the required funds for the scheme. He demanded the immediate provision of Rs3 billion for the timely completion of the Lowari tunnel project without further delay.

The two MPAs also regretted increase in the fare of PIA flights and reduction in the airliner’s flights from Peshawar to Chitral saying the moves were an injustice to Chitralis.

They urged the federal government, National Highway Authority and other relevant authorities to ensure the opening of the Lowari tunnel for six hours daily to ease the sufferings of the people of Chitral.

The lawmakers warned that if their demand was not met in two days, they would boycott the provincial assembly proceedings and the upcoming Senate elections in protest against the people’s misery caused by the tunnel’s closure.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2015

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