Dir Police, NHA action against stranded passengers condemned

Chitral -- Abdur Rashid Minhas District President of PASBAN Chitral in a press statement condemned the brutal action of Dir police against the besieged Chitrali passengers due to closure of the Tunnel approach road. He said the act of Dir police is a harsh blow on the Puhkhtoon face of Dir.

He urged the government to probe the matter and take actions against the responsible people. He also condemned the negative role of NHA in not facilitating the proper use of tunnel facility and dealing cruelly with the poor and grieved people of Chitral who still remain always besieged on both sides of the Lowari tunnel..

 He termed the NHA behavior a conspiracy against the present federal and provincial government. to make the government unpopular with the people.-- KA Jamil Shahnawi, Drosh Chitral, 06 Mar 2011

Stranded Chitralis stage protest against road closure

DIR: Hundreds of Chitralis stranded in Dir Upper due to road closure here Sunday staged protest against officials of the National Highway Authority (NHA) for not clearing the road up to the Lowari Tunnel for traffic.

Led by Mohibul Ahmed and Nazeer Ali Shah, the passengers in 40 vehicles staged protest outside the office of the district coordination officer. They chanted slogans against the officials of the NHA for their failure to remove the snow from the Dir-Chitral Road.

The snowfall in the area has been continuing for the last four days. The road is now covered with four feet of snow. Several roads including Chitral-Dir and Dir-Kohistan roads were closed and the people of Chitral have been facing great hardships.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohibul Ahmed said the passengers had been stranded in the area for the last three days due to the closure of the Dir-Chitral Road. He said the road from Qualandi to Tunnel and Lowari Top was completely closed due to snow but officials of the NHA were not taking interest in removing the snow from the road. Later, a police official assured the protesters that he would take up the issue with NHA officials. --'The News', 07 Mar 2011

Comment 1

Shabaash NHA !  Instead of opening the road and helping the stranded passengers you have started getting them beaten up by police. Looks like rogue organisations of the government like the NHA are bent upon triggering a Tunis / Egypt like revolution in Pakistan. May God help our country. -- Abdul Latif, Chitral. 07 Mar 2011.