CHITRAL: The dream of Chitralis to be connected to Chakdara through road has been shattered as a road project costing Rs17 billion has reportedly been shelved by the federal government. The funding for the project was guaranteed by the South Korean Exim Bank.

The road had been announced by the previous PML-N government which was to be completed in three phases. Phase one from Kalkatak village of Drosh (where the approach road of Lowari tunnel ends) to Chitral city had been allocated in the budget to the National Highway Authority, the executing agency of the project.

A source in the NHA requesting anonymity confirmed to Dawn that the road project had been shelved by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government along with four other road projects and four bridges to be built over Chitral River in different valleys of the district.

The source added that the Chitral-Chakdara Road was to be consisted of three phases, the first from Chitral city to Kalkatak, the second from Lowari to Wari in Upper Dir and last from Wari to Chakdara.

The road was to connect Chitral with the Swat Expressway at Chakdara thereby linking up the district with the motorway near Swabi at Karnal Sher Khan Interchange, thus reducing the travel time between Islamabad and Chitral from 10 to six hours and from Peshawar, from eight to five hours.

The incumbent government has also dropped the Chitral-Shandur road whose feasibility study and design work had been completed by the NHA and allocation was being awaited from the government for tendering it. Former MNA Shahzada Iftikharuddin said the Shandur-Gilgit Road as announced by the previous government to make it an alternate route of CPEC would be meaningless if the Chakdara-Chitral and Chitral-Shandur roads were dropped.

He said Chitral-Chakdara road was of prime importance not only for Chitralis but also for the districts of Upper and Lower Dir as well as the adjoining tribal districts of Bajaur and Mohmand. The former lawmaker noted that the absence of road infrastructure was the main hurdle in exploitation of potential of hydropower generation, tourism and exploration and transportation of mines and minerals.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2018