CHITRAL: The Pakistan Post officials and a contractor have been accused of disrupting the mail delivery system in Chitral.

An official of Chitral GPO confirmed that no mail had reached here from Upper Dir for last six days, saying this did not happen for the first time as the contractor had made a habit of disrupting the mail delivery.

He said as per the contract, the contractor was bound to run a specific vehicle to deliver mail to the district on time, but actually, he dispatched the consignment partially through passenger vehicles plying between Dir and Chitral. “The load of mail accumulated on daily basis and the mountainous track through Lowari Pass warranted that a four-wheel jeep or wagon is used to ensure uninterrupted flow of mail,” he maintained.

Before the contract, the mail was delivered to Chitral via the PIA airplanes.

Due to non-delivery of mail on time, candidates missed their test and interviews for appointments in government departments, while others could not apply for the posts due to collapse of the postal system.

When contacted, the divisional superintendent of postal division Malakand admitted the collapse of the mail system in Chitral due to the contractor’s lethargic approach.

“I have no authority to terminate his contract but I have sent dozens of letters to the authorities complaining about violating of the agreement, but to no avail,” he said. The postmaster general, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, could not be contacted as he had gone to Islamabad to attend an official meeting.

CHITRAL TO GET LPG IN BULK: People here will start getting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for household use through a pipeline by end of the year which will greatly help in conservation of the oak and deodar forests in the district.

MNA Shahzada Iftikharuddin told media persons here the other day that the extensive use of oak and deodar wood as fuel for heating and cooking had led to the depletion of forest and the provision of natural gas would do away with the problem once and for all.

The MNA said that transportation of LPG in bulk in 22-wheeler trucks to Chitral would start soon after the commissioning of Lowari tunnel for public use. He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced in Chitral last year that LPG tanks would be put in place in three different places in the district for which land had been acquired recently in Drosh, Broze and Chitral.

He said that gas would be provided to the households through pipes and the consumers would be billed on monthly basis. He said that the provision of gas would put an end to use of wood as fuel for heating and cooking.

He said that the facility would be extended to upper Chitral and Lot Koh valley once the roads were widened and the wooden bridges replaced by concrete bridges.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2017