Paving the road to Kalam a dire necessity
Dilapidated condition of main road calls for urgent repair as the community’s very survival may be at stake.
SWAT:
A jirga comprising of Kalam’s political parties and elders has urged the government and international community to immediately reconstruct a road that connects Kalam with the rest of the country, as their community’s livelihood depends on it. They fear that delay in the 60-kilometre road’s reconstruction would create shortage of food and other life-sustaining necessities in the tehsil.
Kalam is one of the most important tourist destinations in the scenic Swat Valley, with a population of over 100,000 persons whose livelihoods are heavily dependent on tourism and agriculture.
The valley’s tourism was ruined during the three year militancy in the valley while the remaining infrastructure and agricultural land were destroyed by the recent monsoon floods.
The road, serving as a lifeline for 16,000 households, was completely washed away by the floods, leaving the population stranded. Six months on, it has not even been slightly repaired. Perturbed by the government’s apparent apathy, the people resorted to the All-parties Jirga of Tehsil Kalam to present their complaints or objections and make a plea for the road’s reconstruction.
Addressing a press conference after the jirga, former Nazim of Kalam Habibullah said, “The people of Kalam were the first to rise against the Taliban during the violent insurgency to prevent their influx, which the government owes us for. The 60 km road connecting Kalam with Lower Swat was swept away months ago, but nothing has materialised in terms of the road’s restoration so far, despite several claims and announcements from both the federal and provincial governments.”
“We raised the issue of the road in various forums but nobody took it seriously. The prime minister, chief minister and other high delegations visited Swat by helicopter but only made rhetorical announcements which remain unfulfilled,” the jirga members said.
Malak Ghazan, a jirga representative, said that the people of Kalam laid a temporary path to restore access to the tehsil, but the onslaught of heavy rains and snowfall blocked it, trapping 50 per cent of the population there and leading to a scarcity of life sustaining items.
The jirga condemned the role of the National Highway Authority (NHA), saying, “Under normal circumstances, we would see some bulldozers and other machines at work but since the floods washed away our road, the NHA has also fled the scene,” while demanding that concerned authorities take action against the NHA and investigate its actions.
The jirga’s joint statement added that the provincial government failed completely in the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction and warned both the provincial and federal governments that if the road’s reconstruction was not initiated within one week, they would conduct sit-ins in front of both the provincial assembly in Peshawar and the Parliament House in Islamabad.
“The responsibility will fall on the government if anything goes wrong,” said the jirga members.
The jirga condemned the role of both the region’s MNAs and MPAs and said that if the government failed to solve their issues, they would appeal to the international community and United Nations for help in this difficult time. The jirga also appealed the army to resume its helicopter service, which has become indispensible after the temporary road installed by the locals was rendered useless by rain and snow.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2011.
A jirga comprising of Kalam’s political parties and elders has urged the government and international community to immediately reconstruct a road that connects Kalam with the rest of the country, as their community’s livelihood depends on it. They fear that delay in the 60-kilometre road’s reconstruction would create shortage of food and other life-sustaining necessities in the tehsil.
Kalam is one of the most important tourist destinations in the scenic Swat Valley, with a population of over 100,000 persons whose livelihoods are heavily dependent on tourism and agriculture.
The valley’s tourism was ruined during the three year militancy in the valley while the remaining infrastructure and agricultural land were destroyed by the recent monsoon floods.
The road, serving as a lifeline for 16,000 households, was completely washed away by the floods, leaving the population stranded. Six months on, it has not even been slightly repaired. Perturbed by the government’s apparent apathy, the people resorted to the All-parties Jirga of Tehsil Kalam to present their complaints or objections and make a plea for the road’s reconstruction.
Addressing a press conference after the jirga, former Nazim of Kalam Habibullah said, “The people of Kalam were the first to rise against the Taliban during the violent insurgency to prevent their influx, which the government owes us for. The 60 km road connecting Kalam with Lower Swat was swept away months ago, but nothing has materialised in terms of the road’s restoration so far, despite several claims and announcements from both the federal and provincial governments.”
“We raised the issue of the road in various forums but nobody took it seriously. The prime minister, chief minister and other high delegations visited Swat by helicopter but only made rhetorical announcements which remain unfulfilled,” the jirga members said.
Malak Ghazan, a jirga representative, said that the people of Kalam laid a temporary path to restore access to the tehsil, but the onslaught of heavy rains and snowfall blocked it, trapping 50 per cent of the population there and leading to a scarcity of life sustaining items.
The jirga condemned the role of the National Highway Authority (NHA), saying, “Under normal circumstances, we would see some bulldozers and other machines at work but since the floods washed away our road, the NHA has also fled the scene,” while demanding that concerned authorities take action against the NHA and investigate its actions.
The jirga’s joint statement added that the provincial government failed completely in the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction and warned both the provincial and federal governments that if the road’s reconstruction was not initiated within one week, they would conduct sit-ins in front of both the provincial assembly in Peshawar and the Parliament House in Islamabad.
“The responsibility will fall on the government if anything goes wrong,” said the jirga members.
The jirga condemned the role of both the region’s MNAs and MPAs and said that if the government failed to solve their issues, they would appeal to the international community and United Nations for help in this difficult time. The jirga also appealed the army to resume its helicopter service, which has become indispensible after the temporary road installed by the locals was rendered useless by rain and snow.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2011.