After the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the subsequent inclusion of Bajaur as merged district into Malakand division its bifurcation has become inevitable for the sake of effective administration.

The overwhelming population of 8.605 million and vast area of 29,872 square kilometres of Malakand division is likely to make it unstable administratively.

The establishment of Malakand division dates back to 1970 when it included the three princely districts of Chitral, Dir and Swat with Mingora as its headquarters. Mingora was not only the geographical centre of the division, it also had a sufficient infrastructure to accommodate the headquarters.

The demarcation of this administrative division of the province worked well in accelerating its development process and since then a phenomenal improvement in the standard of lives of the residents was noted.

The divisional management proved as a catalyst in the rapid progress of this backward area hitherto ruled as princely states with least degree of government’s say in its affairs.

Presently, the division consists of nine districts of Swat, Shangla, Buner, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral, Bajaur and Malakand

Presently, Malakand division consists of nine districts of Swat, Shangla, Buner, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral, Bajaur and Malakand.

The population of the area forming the Malakand division has increased by more than hundred per cent what it was in early 1970s when it was created. Topographically, the area is mountainous with sparse population and if a divisional officer of a department sets on touring his area it may take almost a month for him to visit its every nook and corner.

The inclusion of Bajaur and Malakand tribal districts into Malakand division has necessitated the creation of a new and 8th new administrative division of the province to facilitate the people. The proposed administrative division would consist of the northern districts of Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral, Upper Dir, Lower Dir and Bajaur which are geographically contiguous with each other.

This proposed unit of administration could be quite feasible in terms of both population and area, as after bifurcation each division will have population of above four million. If the population and area form the main criteria for creation of an administrative division then both the new divisions would fulfil them.

The Bannu division has the area of 4,391 square kilometres (sq km) and population of 2.044 million, DI Khan 9005 sq km and 2.019 million, Hazara 17,194 sq km and 5.325 million, Kohat 7,012 sq km and 2.21 million, Mardan 3,046 sq km and 3.997 million and Peshawar 4,001 sq km and 7.403 million.

The proposed new division consisting of northern districts of Chitral (upper and lower), Dir (upper and lower) and Bajaur will still be the biggest division of the province in respect of area, which is 21,421 sq km, with a population of just over four million.

The enormity of the area of the existing Malakand division is the main hurdle for the divisional administration to run it smoothly and a commissioner or regional police officer hardly finds a chance to visit Chitral during his tenure of three years.

Many divisional officers get transferred without visiting whole of the territory in his jurisdiction during his tenure.

It was due to this reason that some years ago most of the departments created divisional level posts for the northern districts and seated them in Timergara, the district headquarters of Lower Dir.

Presently, divisional conservator of forest and wildlife, superintending engineers of C&W, public health engineering and irrigation departments have their divisional level offices established in Timergara (Malakand North) for their convenience.

It is only the commissioner and regional police officer’s posts which would need to be created and established here to make a new division of the province.

The northern districts, including Bajaur, are well connected with each other and with Timergara being the geographical centre of all of them making it convenient to have an access to the divisional headquarters.

It is quite easy for someone in Chitral to travel to Timergara or any part of Lower Dir and reach back the same day while in case of Swat it takes three days.

It is more convenient to travel to Peshawar than to Mingora city and it was due to this reason that when in 1990s Chitral district was put under the jurisdiction of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Swat, the people agitated to affiliate the district back with BISE, Peshawar.

The divisional headquarters in Timergara will relieve the residents of Upper Dir and the districts of Upper and Lower Chitral as they travelled to the down country through the route passing through it (Timergara).

When contacted for his comments on the matter, former senior minister and now MPA Inayatullah Khan said that the creation of a new administrative division had become imperative because the divisions were being made the focus of development.

The largely extended division of Malakand needs to be bifurcated for rapid development and progress of the whole area and it was also a dream of the people of this area.

He supported Timergara as the headquarters of the proposed new division by virtue of its location and the fact that it had already a viable infrastructure in place.

Former MPA from Upper Dir, Mohammad Ali, said that the new division had been the longstanding demand of the people of Chitral and Dir who lagged behind in the race of development. He said that the territories of the proposed new division were self-sufficient in natural resources ranging from water and agricultural lands to tourist spots.

“In fact, we want a separate province of Malakand for its rapid progress and the creation of a new division will be a step in this direction and we will appreciate it wholeheartedly,” he said.

The idea of bifurcation was floated by the incumbent commissioner of Malakand division, Riaz Khan Mehsud, last month during his first visit to the area of Dir.

During his meeting with the area elites, he had said that carving out a new administrative division consisting of the districts of Chitral, Dir and Bajaur would greatly facilitate its people and ensure rapid development of the area.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2019