Faulty chairlifts

A father drowned while attempting to rescue his son stranded over the Indus River in a manually operated chairlift in Bisham tehsil, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla area. Muhammad Aziz, a resident of Kund, Allai in Battagram district, fell into the river when the rope he was using to rescue his 13-year-old son snapped. Despite frantic efforts, Aziz was swept away by the strong currents, leaving the boy stranded in the chairlift until locals managed to rescue him.

This tragic incident underscores the dangerous reliance on makeshift infrastructure in critical areas. It was revealed that the family had contacted Rescue 1122, but their pleas for help went unanswered. Even after Aziz’s drowning, rescue services failed to arrive, highlighting a severe lapse in emergency response.

Such incidents reflect a broader systemic issue: the government’s abdication of responsibility to provide adequate infrastructural facilities in remote and hazardous regions. The use of manually operated chairlifts, particularly over perilous terrains like the Indus River, is a testament to the neglect faced by these communities. This chairlift had also apparently been sealed by the Bisham tehsil assistant commissioner following a similar incident in Battagram in August 2023 which involved a painful, 16-hour long rescue, but was later reopened for use after maintenance, illustrating the lack of sustainable solutions.

Unmoved by the repeated occurrence of these incidents, the government instead, last month, slashed the PSDP by Rs204 billion for the ongoing fiscal year. A month later, the government slashed it by a further Rs50 billion, while retaining economic heads from which money should actually be withdrawn. The incident also draws attention to the broader neglect of rural and remote areas, where communities are left to fend for themselves with inadequate resources and support. It is imperative that the government reassess its budget allocations and policy priorities to address the infrastructural deficits that endanger lives and hinder development in these vulnerable regions.