The beauty of Swat and Malakand

There was a foreboding in visiting the lush vale of Swat, given the stories of visitors to the so-called ‘Pakistani Switzerland’. One had not visited the famous spots of Malam Jabba, Kalam, Maho Dhand, etc in decades. So, one hopped up to visit the erstwhile serene valleys — some old and some newly discovered.

Swat has attracted substantial official attention, funding and patronage due to Mehmood Khan, the incumbent K-P Chief Minister, who hails from the Matta area. The Swat Motorway peters off from the M-1 (Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway) at Capt Karnal Sher Khan Interchange between Swabi and Mardan. This two-lane Motorway takes you to Chakdara… the entry point of Swat, Dir and Chitral, through tunnels that now connect Mardan and Malakand Divisions.

The main arteries connecting important population centres are metalled and high quality, except for some bottlenecks in the form of narrow steel bridges that need to be replaced by proper RCC bridges. Off the main roads, you need sturdy four-wheel drives especially ahead of Kalam.

The new roads include a highway connecting places like Shamozai, Kanju, Kabal, Matta, Drush Khela and Madyan along the right (Northern) bank of River Swat. The old road runs along the left (Southern) bank connecting Chakdara with Mingora, Khwaza Khela and Madyan. Both roads are connected through numerous bridges at important population centres. Beyond Madyan, a single high-quality road accesses Bahrain and Kalam.

The conurbation effect of the erstwhile sleepy mountain towns is phenomenal. There are hardly any open stretches allowing visitors to glimpse the leftover scenic beauty. Towns without bypasses impede traffic flow to frustrating levels. The scant bypasses are not marked and remain obscured. One heard horror stories about the 45 kilometers beyond Madyan to Kalam, being covered in 24-36 hours (with luck) by tourists… with bumper to bumper traffic during the ‘season’. The situation is reportedly extremely bad during festivals like Eids and Independence Day etc.

Swat of today stands overly commercialised with locals and outsiders converting every possible space into an eatery, a hotel and/or some other spot of interest for the influx of tourists… mainly young single men in groups. There were anecdotes making rounds about families with women stranded in traffic jams for hours with no basic necessities nearby. The area does not have the capacity to absorb the kind of traffic that it endures by the corona-frustrated humanity.

In the ‘season’, the hotels are booked to capacity; tent villages sprout and are occupied, and tourists overflow to the open spaces in the woods or under open skies. The ecological and environmental effect of this human deluge is striking. In the remotest stretches along River Swat, beyond its headwaters in Maho Dhand, plastic waste was pervasive. Nothing escapes our destructive footprint. Trout farming, over-fishing is ubiquitous, and eating trout is a sacred ritual.

When it comes to the basic necessities of life, the K-P government needs to measure up. Data connection of the cellphone companies is spotty and weak. This discourages the use of credit/debit cards by almost all retailers. Most transactions are in cash, susceptible to tax evasion and other perils. A sizeable town like Kalam still does not have any bank (one is under-construction) and ATM.

Most construction is right in the middle of seasonal nullahs, and whenever these water courses reclaim their passage, roads are blocked, buildings are washed away and traffic is piled up…as it happened near Kalam recently.

Forest cover is fast depleting. Mountains and slopes that one vividly remembered being forested are now bare and denuded. Illegal logging continues unabated with or without connivance of the Forest Department as per local evidence. The archaic argument of locals cutting trees for fuel is non-starter, as a mature pine tree provides more than fuel to a family. The logging is profit-driven, pure and simple and takes place mostly in connivance under the cover of darkness. Mainstream Swat appears losing its charm to savvy travelers and only attracts those interested in ticking a serial in the life’s itinerary.

K-P government — under its agile tourism sector — has provided state of the art ‘Camping Pods’ at some newly commissioned tourist spots with reasonable levels of cleanliness, affordability and serenity. But then again, surroundings of these pods are beginning to dot with haphazard construction, compromising the very spirit of camping. Maho Dhand, thirty or so years ago, was a famous spot for camping foreigners… no more. It is overcrowded, sprinkled with ugly shanties… and a ghetto in the making. The grueling three hours’ journey from Kalam ends up in a disappointing anti-climax.

One was heartened by the positive sentiment, the locals had for the Armed Forces and Police, given the successful operation which flushed out militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat (TTS) from their areas; ushering in peace, normalcy and development. The affected areas were mainly along the highway north of River Swat, stretching into Lower Dir in the north. Locals attribute the present boom in their business and prosperity to the Army and its contribution towards the local economy, education, peace and security... that continues.

For Swat to remain a magnet for tourism, especially the high-end, high-dollar eco-tourism, it is absolutely imperative to limit the intake to the Malakand Division that has a sizeable population itself. An objective study needs to ascertain the optimal tourist intake at a given time, so that the ecology is healed, environment protected and locals not flustered with the invading hordes incessantly honking. Tourism Police is not as visible as one notices in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Levying a poll tax at various entry points would generate sizeable revenue that can be spent in undertakings such as waste management, road maintenance and tourist facilitation. Some degree of building control and enforcing it ruthlessly with community participation is imperative to thwart an impending disaster.

There is more that Malakand/Swat can offer to the rest of the world. The pre-historic Buddhist stupas, monasteries and universities; the verdant valleys between Upper Dir and Lower Swat; its fruit orchards consequent to improved farming are waiting to be discovered. And the hospitality of its people is yet to be optimally enjoyed. But only if tourism is controlled, optimal and in sync with the nature.

Gold is there but too many diggers end up squabbling.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2021.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.