Chitralis enjoy tunnel blessings

Chitral --The people of Chitral for whom traveling out of the district in winters was a nightmare till three years back, are now enjoying the benefits of the Lowari tunnel.

The idea of a tunnel through the mountains of Lowari to provide road access was first presented in the West Pakistan Assembly in 1956 by Chitral's representative Ataliq Jafar Ali Shah, who pursued it despite the idea being termed unfeasible by the then government,. In 1965 again as Member of the assembly he took it up as his passion and priority but it didn't work and he didn't give up.

It was in 1973 that as an MNA, the late Ataliq got a unanimous resolution passed in the National Assembly demanding immediate construction of the Lowari tunnel.  The resolution was supported by both the Govt and opposition leaders including stalwarts of the time Khan Abdul Qayum Khan, Molana Mufti Mehmood, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Mumtaz Dolatana, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan etc. As a result, the Govt of ZA Bhutto shaheed initiated the construction of the tunnel. However after the ouster of the govt the project was abandoned.

New priorities cropped up with time. It was in 2004 that the then President Musharraf's govt with an aim to connect Pakistan to Central Asia, reinitiated the tunnel at the same place and same design and today we can use the tunnel to our relief.

Besides passengers, the transportation of everyday usage goods, post and parcels, newspapers, medicines etc have all added to make life easier than, when we did not have the tunnel. The takeover of management of the tunnel by the FWO has made travelling through the tunnel more like it and people are now actually enjoying the blessings of the Lowari tunnel.-- Sultan Mehmood, Garam Chashma 20 Dec 2011.

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