Protest: ‘Keep Lowari Tunnel open throughout the week’

NHA set a condition that the tunnel will be opened for only three days in a week during the winter.

PESHAWAR:

Residents of Chitral, led by their former Member of National Assembly (MNA) Moulana Abdul Akbar, held a protest rally on Saturday, demanding of the government to open the Lowari Tunnel throughout the week for all kinds of traffic.

They demanded that the tunnel be opened for traffic from 4am till 8pm throughout the week and that number of security check posts on the road be reduced to one.

After the Lowari Tunnel was blocked due to heavy snowfall, the NHA cleared it after two days’ work but set a condition that the tunnel will be opened for only three days in a week during the winter. Residents of Chitral maintain that closure of the tunnel for four days a week has created shortage of food and medicines in the area during harsh winters.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2012.