PESHAWAR: People hailing from Chitral on Sunday set up a protest camp outside the Peshawar Press Club to raise voice against prolonged power outages and dilapidated condition of roads in their district.

The protest camp was organised by Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Haqooq Chitral, wherein people belonging to different walks of life participated. Shouting slogans for solution to their demands, the residents also criticised the relevant officials of the provincial government for not taking action against the people involved in illegal mining in their district.

Chitral Development Movement chairman Waqas Ahmed, Prof Ismail Wali, Liaquat Ali, PPP leader Abulais Ramdasi, Inayatullah Aseer, Umair Khalilullah, Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Haqooq Chitral president Pir Mukhtar, president Chitral Journalist Forum Nader Khawaja and others participated.

The protesters said residents of both Upper and Lower Chitral districts were troubled by dilapidated condition of roads and electricity loadshedding, but the government was least bothered to take notice.

They said unannounced power outages, particularly during the chilly weather, had further increased the people’s problems.

They said they had raised the problems many times, but the previous provincial government did not pay any attention towards their issues. They said the coalition government at the federal level was duty bound to reconstruct the dilapidated roads, ensure smooth power supply to the consumers and stop the illegal mining.

The protesters warned the people of Chitral would march on Islamabad if the government failed to resolve their problems.

Published in Dawn, January 23th, 2023