Lowari Tunnel: Chitral left out in the cold

Passageway is only open 2 days a week in winter, depriving residents of basic necessities, such as prompt medical care

MINGORA:

For the residents of Chitral, the arrival of winter means being virtually cut off from the rest of the world.

Amid heavy snowfall, the district’s only transportation route, Lowari Tunnel, remains closed for five days a week leaving the district inaccessible.

The under-construction tunnel, that remains the only transportation facility for nearly 500,000 people of Chitral, is open for traffic on just Saturdays and Sundays.



PHOTO: FAZAL KHALIQ/EXPRESS

Thus, hundreds of vehicles, both passenger and cargo, begin lining up outside its opening in Chitral well before the start of the weekend. They wait in line for hours amidst freezing weather and in nearly eight inches of snow to be able to commute in and out of Chitral.

“Every year, for three whole months, we are cut off from the rest of the world but the government does not take the matter seriously. We are citizens of Pakistan, we shouldn’t be treated like we don’t belong here,” said Sabir Fareed, a resident of Chitral.

“For five days every week, we are like caged birds left to the mercy of God,” he added.

Throughout the weekdays not even patients can leave Chitral for other destinations.

“Till the weekend, critically-ill patients cannot be shifted to hospitals in major cities. Several people have died because of the absence of medical facilities in Chitral,” said Abdullah, a resident of Jughur village. Abdullah was taking his daughter to a hospital in Peshawar and was stuck in the traffic.

At the other end

The situation on the Dir side of the tunnel is not any different. In the absence of a proper shelter and washroom facilities, thousands of passengers including women and students, remain in queues for long hours to be able to pass through. The situation gets even worse during and after snowfall on either side of the tunnel.

This year, the Pakistan Army cleared the snow off the Lowari Top, but vehicles from Dir and Chitral are only allowed to pass through one side at a time, which creates long traffic jams.

Zarwar Khan, a truck driver, told The Express Tribune he had spent 20 hours outside the tunnel’s opening in Dir waiting for it to be opened. “A line of vans, cars and trucks attempting to cross the tunnel at once caused a massive gridlock and now have been stuck in traffic for almost three hours,” he said.

Khan added the authorities should remove snow completely from the road leading inside so that traffic from both sides can pass through without problems.

A shelter for snowy days

Travellers on the Chitral side have been given some relief in the form of a waiting room constructed close to the Lowari Tunnel that offers hot water, toilets, sitting spaces and a prayer area.  The room has been constructed by the European Union in collaboration with Sarhad Rural Support Programme under the supervision of Chitral Scouts.

Mustajab Khan, a resident of Danin village who was heading to Peshawar, said: “The waiting room is quite a relief especially for women and the elderly.”

Travellers say a similar shelter should also be established on the other side of the tunnel which opens in Dir.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2014.