Shandur, the world’s highest polo ground at 3,700 meters, is exhibiting signs of neglect, regret residents.

“I have been coming here since 1982 when the Shandur Polo Festival was held for the first time by the administration of Chitral but the facilities have been unchanged over the years,” Shahriyar Baig of Bakamak village told Dawn.

He said the polo ground was as uneven as it was 36 years ago and the seating arrangements for visitors were as inadequate as it was at that time.

The resident also complained about unavailability of public toilets, grocery shops and public transport vehicles for visitors and regretted that the visitors had to use dirt track from Chitral to Shandur. He insisted that lack of facilities kept the festival from becoming a truly national event.

Formally launched in 1982, the festival was included in the calendar of national events by the government in 1990s and July 7 was fixed for its opening every year.

It didn’t take place only in 1999 due to the Indo-Pak tensions in Kargil sector. Even the acts of terrorism in Malakand division didn’t hamper the festival. The government used it internationally to show Chitral as a peaceful area and thus, attracting tourists in large numbers.

The event has so far been attended by many heads of the state and governments, including General Ziaul Haq, General Pervez Musharraf, Farooq Leghari and Benazir Bhutto. Many rulers have used it to announce major development projects for the region, including the Lowari tunnel’s development.

However, the people feel that concrete efforts are required to promote the festival as a sport and tourist event both locally and internationally. They say currently, only affluent people could attend the festival by spending thousands of rupees on transportation and food.

According to them, many tourists return complaining about lack of accommodation, food, and seating arrangements in the Shandur polo ground.

Majority of visitors cannot watch the polo match due to a limited seating capacity in the ground.

The main pavilion has around 1,000 proper seats but they’re reserved for the notables of Chitral and the adjoining Gilgit-Baltistan region and government officers. However, the common spectators sit on the dusty ground to watch the matches. Many of them get frustrated as they struggle to see teams in action even after spending lots of rupees.

The ground is uneven, while there is a great hurdle in front of the goal post on the hillside in the form of a raised piece of land failing players to score goals.

Also, uneven is the upper and lower ends of the ground, a reason for most goals being scored from the lake’s side. The place for tent village for visitors is as inclined as it was three decades ago. Ironically, the leveled piece of land in the lake side is reserved for VIPs. The makeshift markets and stalls are arranged in haphazard manner giving the place an ugly look. Also, the administration doesn’t issue price list for food items sold there and thus, causing sellers to profiteer. There is also no proper drinking water supply for the tent village forcing visitors to cover long distances on foot to fetch water in jerricans or containers.

No toilets are put up around the venue to the misery of common visitors. However, the VIP enclosure has few toilets.

The festival causes environmental degradation as participants litter the area. ironically, the festival sponsor, Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, didn’t release any funds for the festival this year for proper garbage disposal.

The people of Laspur valley complain they lose scores of cattle every year due to the diseases caused by the waste spread by participants in grazing lands. They say the authorities pay no compensation to the owners of yaks killed by the diseases, which often break out after the festival.

The road leading to the polo festival venue on Chitral side has many picnic spots alongside showing springs of glacier water in the backdrop of Hindukush peaks, archeological sites, historical places and scenic villages.

The people say picnic spots can be developed at places from Chitral city to Shandur Top with proper facilities of seating, food and local handicrafts.

Captain of the Chitral polo team and president of Polo Association Chitral Shahzada Sikandarul Mulk expressed utter dismay at the poor state of management during the festival and said the association’s advice for corrective measures had fallen on deaf ears.

He said the benefits given to polo players were negligible and that there was no any guarantee and assurance both for players and their horses.

Mr Mulk, who has been leading the Chitral team against GB’s in the festival since 1982, said the allowance given to players for the festival in 1988 was Rs8,000 when a horse was priced at Rs10,000 but currently, a player drew Rs70,000 allowance when the horse’s price had gone three times beyond the allowance.

He said players always faced a risk to their and horses’ life and therefore, both should be insured by the government.

He criticised the government for ‘making every effort over the years to make the festival an event for VVIPs discouraging the common people to attend it’.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2018