CHITRAL: Around 12,000 people are stranded and have to travel a 70-kilometre trek with roads covered with snow and debris on foot as the only road to Arkari Valley from Chitral has remained blocked since Feb 5 after deadly avalanches hit the area.

The valley is situated near the Pak-Afghan border.

Chairman of the village council Sher Muhammad said thousands of people were stranded in the valley and facing acute shortage of food, medicines and other essential commodities and there was no hospital in the area as well. The local administration reserved only one tractor to clear the road blocked by at least 46 avalanches which was not possible, he added.

Vice chairman of the council Razi Man Shah said that the people were facing severe difficulty as they had no access to electricity and a basic health unit. Women and children of the area held a protest asking the provincial government to take urgent measures to restore the route, he added.

Earlier, a patient passed away on his way to a hospital in Chitral as he had no proper means of transport. A number of patients were lying untreated in the valley waiting to be shifted to the hospital, said the locals.

The locals urged the provincial government to deploy excavators, bulldozers and heavy machinery to remove debris of avalanches and snow to open the road for traffic.

They also complained that the authorities were not clearing the road and causing difficulty to a large number of people.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2017