Despite huge funds at the disposal of Gorakh Hill Authority, road leading to hill station has not yet been developed
DADU: During Eid, local visitors as well as those from other parts of Sindh rushed in large numbers to visit the Gorakh hill station situated to the west of the Johi taluka in the Dadu district. However, several factors have rendered the area dangerous for visitors.
Despite huge funds at the disposal of the Gorakh Hill Authority, the road leading to the hill station has not yet been developed to accommodate small vehicles and only four-wheel drives can climb more than 20 kilometres continuously. The road, particularly from Khawal Pass, is very dangerous. This time, those who could not find or afford to hire a four-wheel drive used their motorbikes. According to visitors, around 20,000 people visited Gorkah daily during the three-day Eid holiday and the rush led to road accidents resulting in injuries to visitors. Local drivers refused to drive the injured to health care facilities in Wahi Pandhi and Johi, even though the injured and their families were willing to pay hefty fares. Local drivers were having a field day, fleecing visitors by increasing fares from the normal Rs3,000 to Rs4,000-8,000 for a one-way trip.
Along the path, there is only one food shop allegedly run by a close relative of the chairman of the Gorakh Development Authority and no one else is allowed to open another food shop in the area. This creates a shortage in supply and the sole owner of the shop takes full advantage of the heavy traffic, also charging extremely high rates for items. There are also complaints from visitors that the rest house often remains occupied by favourites. During the last few years, there has been good development at Gorakh but a lot more needs to be done. The chairman should have taken precautionary measures in anticipation of the great rush during the Eid holidays to prevent inconvenience to visitors. The road has to be improved so that all vehicles can use it and there must be caps on what transporters and shop-owners can charge for their goods and services. Most importantly, there should be ambulances and a first aid facility to provide quick medical relief to injured persons, with the capability of shifting those with serious injuries to other facilities. The present chairman should seek help from professionals or be replaced with a professional, as he seems to be a novice as far as promoting tourism is concerned.
Gulsher Panhwer
Published in The Express Tribune, July 24th, 2015.
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