UPPER DIR: The ice-covered Sadgai Lake in picturesque Usheri Dara valley of Upper Dir needs immediate attention of government and tourism department to make it a place worth visiting.

Situated at a height of 8,500 feet, the lake is quite inaccessible given the fact that there is no proper road leading to it and it takes almost three to four hours of walk up to the spot. The lake is fronted by a vast lush green ground.

Despite absence of a proper road, tourists from major towns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and even from Lahore, Multan and Karachi come to visit the lake.

However, they complained about absence of basic facilities like road infrastructure, guest houses, unavailability of mobile service.

Saqlain Afridi, a tourist from Kohat, said that Sadgai Laki was a beautiful place to visit.

Saifullah, a resident of Gandigar, said the place was beautiful, but was very difficult to access, especially for the outsiders because no proper road was built up to the valley.

“One of my guests from Lahore became tired while trekking to the lake and insisted on returning midway,” said Saifullah, who was accompanied by his guests. He said the government should build a road to Sadgai Lake to facilitate tourists and generate revenue.

“The surrounding mountains and sky reflect into the clear waters of the Sadgai Lake, making you feel being in a valley of dreams,” said Maaz Khan from Peshawar, while singing a Pashto song.

He said he had never seen such a romantic place before.

Local residents said that they were organising cricket tournament every year in Sadgai for the purpose of catching attention of tourists. Shehzadullah, a resident of Dir Khas, said Sadgai was a beautiful place and tourists should visit here at least once in a lifetime.

He said lots of things existed here for attraction of tourists like waterfalls, cold and clean water flowing from the heights, lush green fields, forests and lot more. Even in the month of September the lake is still covered with ice, he added.

The locals demanded of the government to build an access road and other facilities with a view to developing it as a tourist spot.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2018