Safety measures: More check posts to be set up on KKH

The highway connects G-B to the rest of the country, has nearly a dozen check posts between Abbottabad and Gilgit

GILGIT:

In reaction to the Kohistan bus massacre, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) governments have decided to establish nearly 30 check posts on Karakoram Highway (KKH).

“The check posts will be set up as part of a security plan being devised to make the journey safer for passengers,” said an official in the G-B government.

In addition to that, a special highway patrolling police will be entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring a safe journey for passengers.

They will not only keep a record of all the passengers, but also convey the information to other check posts, the official added.

The highway, which connects G-B to the rest of the country, has nearly a dozen check posts between Abbottabad and Gilgit.

With the addition of new check posts, there will now be around 40 police check posts on the highway which will help prevent such tragic incidents in future.

At least 16 residents of G-B were killed after they were taken off a bus travelling from Rawalpindi to Gilgit last Tuesday.

The incident triggered chaos in the capital city of G-B, which has a long history of sectarian violence.

Traffic on KKH remained suspended for four days, leaving hundreds of people stranded.

In his visit to Gilgit following the tragedy, Interior Minister Rehman Malik had announced deploying a special highway police along the KKH, with half of the expenses to be borne by the federal government.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2012.