PESHAWAR, Nov 8: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has called to improve the national highway network in the province.

He especially urged expediting the pace of work on Chamblat-Nowshera link on the Peshawar Highway and permanent road link between Chitral and Dir districts.

He also ordered purging the national highways of encroachers, saying that billions of rupees being spent on the development of quality highway network in the province will go down the drain if this network was encroached upon.

Talking during a briefing arranged by the Regional Office of National Highway Authority (NHA) here on Saturday, he welcomed the initiative taken by the authority for the construction of Lowari Tunnel and upgradation dual link roads.

Separately, talking to a delegation of elders of Tappa Khalil and Mohmand Agency and adjacent villages of Peshawar, the governor said that both the government and the political administration were taking concrete steps to curb this curse (of encroachment) and bring the criminals to book.

The delegation comprised MNA Maulana Rehmatullah Khalil and MPA Mr Kashif Azam, besides Nazims of Town-III and Town-IV Yasin Khan Khalil and Haji Niaz Muhammad.

Referring to a point raised on this occasion, the governor said merely demolishing and torching the houses of criminals was not enough as they needed to be tackled with an iron hand.