PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has finalised a plan to construct a road between Malam Jabba and Shangla to promote tourism in the hilly and scenic region and benefit the people living in remote areas of Shangla and Swat districts.

The 7.2 kilometres long road will be built within a year at a cost of around Rs800 million.

Labour minister Shaukat Yousafzai told Dawn on Saturday that the road would reduce the Swat-Shanga distance by 30 kilometers and would facilitate the journey of visitors to the country’s northern parts.

He said the road project would also enable many Shanga residents to earn livelihood on their doorstep through tourism-related business instead of endangering life by opting for mining jobs in Balochistan, Hyderabad and Darra Adamkhel areas.

The minister thanked Chief Minister Mahmood Khan for approving the plan and said the CM had also ordered the holding of a survey for a 10 kilometres link road from Shanga to Bazaar Kot village and the exercise would be completed in few months.

Minister says Rs800m project to promote tourism, create employment

He said the Shangla Top-Bazaar Kot muddy track needed to be blacktopped as it caused problems for users during rains.

Mr Yousafzai said the PTI government was committed to exploiting the full potential of tourism, so it had initiated several projects to improve the living standard of the people, especially those living in remote areas.

He said the road project would provide tourists with an access to hilltops.

The minister said he had a detailed meeting with officials of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority and the tender for the road project would be issued next month for the early start of work.

He said work on the main Malam Jabba Road from Manglawar area had almost been completed to boost tourism in Swat.

Mr Yousafzai also thanked the chief minister for directing the relevant department to conduct a survey for the construction of a link Road from Malam Jabba-Shangla Top Road to Bazaar Kot on his request and said the project would ‘really change the destiny’ of the residents.

He said the chief minister and his team members were fully committed to materialising Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of tourism promotion in the province.

The minister said Shangla region’s infrastructure would match the needs of modern times within two-three years and thus, generating economic activity to create massive employment opportunities for locals and others.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2020