ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: People in the Mastuj union council of Chitral have started work on an abandoned road project on self-help basis after the government stopped funds saying it has already spent Rs10.73 million on the scheme.

The over Rs60 million project, including a bridge over the Yarkhun River near Mastuj town, was launched about four years ago when President Gen Pervez Musharraf announced construction of a network of roads to inter-link the Northern Areas and Chitral.

The president inaugurated the Ghizar-Mastuj road widening project in August 2001, which now has almost been completed. But work on the seven-km-long track in was abandoned midway two years ago after allegations of embezzlement and overestimation.

An inquiry was conducted into the matter, but the committee appointed for probe never released its findings. After completion, the road will link the upper and lower parts of the over 350-km-long valley through an all-weather route.

At present commuters use a highly hazardous narrow strip which passes at the foot of a mountain on which over 50 people have lost their lives in about 20 accidents within the last few years.

This narrow road often remains closed due to glaciers and avalanches from January to March each year. The new road will also connect the district with the Karakoram Highway through the Shandur Pass.

Mastuj Tehsil Nazim Shamsur Rehman told Dawn on phone from Booni on Wednesday that despite promises made by the NWFP chief minister, the funds for the project had not been released.

The Nazim said the communication and works department had completed about 80 per cent of work on the project at a cost of about Rs10.73 million. The area people held a hunger strike in April after which the Chitral MNA, area MPA and the tehsil Nazim announced about Rs2.5 million for the project.

However, the tehsil Nazim said fund announced by the MNA had still not been released and the local governments could not restart the project as it was being executed by the department.

He said the elected representatives from Chitral would take up the project, along with other issues, in their scheduled meeting with the chief minister on Dec 11, in Peshawar.

The chief minister has cancelled his scheduled visit to Chitral aimed at assessing destructions wrought by the early October torrential rains and convened the meeting.