UPPER DIR: The mountainous areas of Upper Dir received fresh snowfall after the interval of one day while heavy rain lashed plain areas in the district on Monday.

The passengers faced difficulties as Lowari Pass remained closed to traffic due to snowfall. According to local residents, the Lowari Top has received more than one foot snowfall.

The officials of local Met office said that Dir received 25 millimetres rain. The snowfall started in Lowari Top, Kumrat, Thal, Kalkot, Nehergah, Balanzai and other areas of the district on Monday morning and continued for the whole day. The plain areas of the district including Dir, Usheri Dara, Barawal, Bibyawar, Sahibabad, Wari and Nehag Dara received heavy shower.

Due to snowfall on Lowari Top, the road leading to Chitral remained closed to traffic on third consecutive. Hundreds of passengers, including children, women and patients, remained stranded in Dir as they were not allowed to go to Chitral by using the under-construction Lowari tunnel.

The vehicles were stopped in Panakot area. The passengers complained that the tunnel staff and district authorities were discriminating against them by not allowing them to use Lowari tunnel. They alleged that some people were allowed by the authorities to reach Chitral via Lowari tunnel.

Robina Begum, a resident of Boni area in Chitral, said that she had spent two days in the vehicle along with her children in the chilly weather. She said that they were poor people and couldn’t bear expenditure of staying in hotels. “It is impossible for us to stay here till Friday, the due date of allowing vehicles to pass through Lowari tunnel,” she added.

Some passengers, who opted to cross Lowari Top on foot, said that they waited for two days in Dir to get permission for using the tunnel but to no avail. “It is dangerous to cross Lowari Top on foot especially during snowfall but what can we do without it,” questioned one of them. Another passenger claimed that many vehicles were permitted to pass through Lowari tunnel.

Sultan Habib, a driver, said that hundreds of vehicles would remain parked there till Friday. He said that all those vehicles could not pass through the tunnel in a single day so some of them would wait for another one week.

The passengers said that they were forced to stay there till Friday and spend nights in the vehicles. They said that it was difficult for them, especially for children, women and patients.

Sources said that district administration of Upper Dir had already announced and directed passengers as well drivers, going to Chitral, to travel only on Friday in a week.

However, the passengers and drivers demanded of the authorities to allow them to pass through the tunnel for three days in a week.

Published in Dawn December 14th, 2016