PESHAWAR, March 17: A former member of the provincial assembly from Chitral, Zainul Abideen, has asked the government to start a chopper service from Dir to Darosh and facilitate his area people till the construction of the Lowari tunnel, linking Chitral with rest of the province.

A delegation of stranded Chitralis, led by Mr Zain, also spoke about their miseries and urged the government to take note of the situation.

In the past, Mr Zain said, NWFP government had started the chopper service and facilitated the residents during winter, when Chitral had been cut off from the country. The Kunar (Afghanistan) route, which was used during the Taliban tenure, was not safe owing to the lawlessness in Afghanistan, he added.

He said: “When snow falls on the valley, Lowari tunnel is choked and people are left with no other alternative between Chitral and NWFP. The winter virtually severs us from the rest of the country,” he added.

He asked the government and the PIA authorities to upgrade the Chitral airport and to make it feasible for the landing of Boeing aircraft. In 1986, land was acquired to upgrade the runway of the Chitral airport and still this plan has not been materialised, Mr Zain added.

He claimed, a test landing of a Boeing aircraft was carried out at Chitral airport and it was decided that unless and until the runway size was not increased Boeing could not land on it. In 1999, late princess Diana came to Chitral in Boeing type aircraft, after that till now work on this project has not been started, he added.

He said: “As long as a land route to Chitral is not constructed PIA would remain the sole means of transportation between Chitral and rest of the country. Due to the closure of the Lowari Pass, the poor Chitralis face numerous problems.”

He asked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), to take notice of the fact that delaying of a viable project would affect the credibility of the national flag-carrier.

Mr Zain said at the time of issuing licenses to the private airlines, Pakistan government had made it compulsory for them to operate 10 per cent of their flights in the northern areas of the country. As Chitral airport was not feasible for the landing of their aeroplanes, therefore till now none of the private airlines was operating in Chitral, he added.

He demanded to the government to start work on the enlargement of the runway of the Chitral airport as the project was already included in the record books of the PIA and CAA. This would reduce the loss of the PIA on this route and help solve people’s problems, he observed.

PROTEST THREATENED: The Chitral Youth Welfare Organization (CYWO) have announced that it would launch a “violent” protest movement to press the government to construct Lawari Tunnel.