CHITRAL NEWS 

Lowari Tunnel extension -Editorial

Conversion of the Lowari Tunnel from rail to road tunnel has been a creditable decision of the present Government and the federal Communications Minister Dr Arbab Alamgir deserves special thanks from the people of Chitral for listening to them and making the necessary amendment in the design. As seen these winters, the tunnel has proved a blessing even in an incomplete form and available for only two hours a day. Efficacy of the tunnel can be greatly enhanced by extending it to Dir.  Austrian expert and consultant of the tunnel Dr Johann Golser says it is possible and says he had even proposed initially for a 13 Km tunnel starting from Dir to Ashret.

What can now easily be done is to make a parallel three km tunnel from Panakot Dir and when it reaches abreast the present tunnel, give it a turn and connect it to the present tunnel. This way there will be no fear of glaciers on the present open road as experienced this year and money spent on constantly maintaining and clearing the road would be saved- Not to mention the big savings of foreign exchange spent on fuel to run vehicles over ten times longer zigzagging road. The cost of the main tunnel has turned out less than two billion rupees (rest money will be spent on cosmetics), This three km tunnel should not be a problem, as the machinery is already there. On the Chitral side the secondary tunnel is good enough.

It may be pointed out that contrary to general perception, making tunnels is one of the easy jobs these days and there are a dozen road tunnels in the world longer than13 km with the 25 km Norway tunnel functioning perfectly well for so many years and now a 52 km tunnel is being planned.  In China villagers have carved out a tunnel with their picks and shovels. Read  Villagers tunnel through mountain.

It is hoped that the government will look into this proposal and implement it promptly in the better interest of Chitral and Pakistan.--Editorial