SWAT: Over 25,000 people of Kalam valley and its suburbs are still without proper Internet service in this modern age, creating a range of problems for them.

Talking to this correspondent here, local students and hoteliers said that Kalam valley was the hub of tourism in the country, but unluckily it was deprived of proper Internet service and as such remained disconnected from rest of the country.

“There is no PTCL service in Kalam valley while the Internet service provided by the mobile network is so poor that it cannot even open a web page,” Hayat Mohammad Kalami told this scribe.

The residents said there were over 300 hotels in Kalam and the valley remained full of tourists throughout the year.

“The government has ordered the hoteliers to make online entries for the guests, but hotels cannot operate the online service without Internet,” said Itebar Ali, a hotel manager in Kalam.

Students have also been facing problems due to unavailability of proper Internet service. “I have missed all my online classes and now our exam is getting nearer. I will have to shift to Mingora so as not to miss the online exam,” said Attaullah, a student of MSC Sociology.

Other students, including those of Allama Iqbal Open University, said they could not do assignments and attend online workshops. They demanded the government to install broadband Internet service to facilitate the residents and tourists.

An official of PTCL said that Universal Service Fund (USF) was installing optical fiber with high-speed Internet facility in the country and if it considered it viable it would also be installed in the valley.

GOVT CRITICISED: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Sherpao has said that the government lacked the ability to revive the country’s economy so it had started mortgaging motorways and airports to secure loans.

He was addressing a meeting of party workers in Swat. On this occasion, scores of PTI and ANP workers, including Khursheed Ahmad, Irfan Ali and others, joined the QWP.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2021