The rich green environment of Kumrat Valley is a treat to watch and behold as the scenic beauty of the paradise-like mountainous region with clouds hovering over snow-capped mountains creates an aura of enchantment for the onlookers. Moreover the valley carries in abundance streams of gushing water from the melting snow, bringing the temperature down even when the rest of the country experiences a very hot summer.
The journey to the valley amid sound of gushing water and chirping of birds becomes an amazing and nerve-soothing one for the tourists who come across valleys after valleys leading to Kumrat.
The hovering clouds touch the white carpet of snow on the high-altitude mountain while the reflection of the mild sunlight increases visual range making it easy for the tourists to see the movements of grazing animals in the faraway landscape without having a telescope.
The natural cycle of forming clouds and light showers of rainfall almost every evening in the valley washes the greenery in the surroundings.
The newly launched Swat Expressway from M1 Colonel Sher Khan Interchange to Chakdara Tunnel, followed by Timergerah, Dir Lower and Upper, Akhagram, Wari, Darora, Bibyawar, Chukiatan, Sharingal, Kalkot, Thall lead to Kumrat Valley.
The zigzag road from Timergerah onwards has mountains on one side and the pouring of streams forming a river runs in a criss-cross pattern on the other.
Zafar Khan, a local jeep driver told APP, “After the visit of Imran Khan to Kumrat in 2016, the valley has got national as well as international level projection, as a result, thousands of tourists from across the country and abroad thronged the picturesque valley, especially during the summer vocations and Eid holidays”.
A local policeman, Sadaqat Shah at the Kumrat checkpoint told the news agency that around 2000 vehicles enter Kumrat valley on a daily basis during Eid holidays. He said that more than one million people visit the valley during the summer vocations.”Dir Kumrat is one of the most beautiful and peaceful tourist sites in the country,” he added.
A resident of Patrak, Dir Upper, Rais Khan said the incumbent government was determined to give the status of ‘National Park’ to the valley for preserving the natural beauty as well as flora and fauna of the area. He, however, said that in this regard the local people should be taken into confidence.
A hotel owner, Hamdullah, in Thall, an area at 30 kilometer distance from Kumrat said that the lack of road infrastructure was the main hurdle in reaching the valley. He said that signboards were also needed to be installed on almost every kilometer to make it easy for the tourists to reach the destination.
Many tourists have complained about the non-availability of mobile phone networks in Kumrat. They said that mobile companies had not installed their towers in the area. They urged the tourism department to provide a temporary mobile phone network to tourists during Eid days and summer vocations.
A tourist from Mardan, Sajjad Ali said that the scenic valleys, mountainous beauty and waterfalls in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had attracted a large number of tourists due to the tourism policy of the PTI-led government.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2021.
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