CHITRAL: Local leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party here have criticised the government for delaying the planned projects of expansion of three federalised roads in Chitral, including Shandur Road, Garam Chashma Road and Kalash valleys road.

Addressing a public rally at Garam Chashma here, district president Fazle Rabbi Jan and other leaders, including Qazi Faisal, Alam Zeb advocate and Nizar Wali Shah, expressed their anguish over the government’s failure to start work on the three road projects, which had been approved by the PML-N government in 2017.

They said that the land for expansion was to be procured by the provincial government for the road projects, which it failed to do for the last four years. They said that no amount could be allocated for acquisition of land as yet.

The PPP activists said the PTI government was making only lip-service to the people of Chitral in almost all sectors of development.

They said the University of Chitral project was another example of the apathetic attitude of the provincial government, as it had allocated only Rs50 million for the land acquisition against the required amount of Rs1 billion.

They criticised the chief minister and alleged that he had diverted a major portion of financial resources to his native Swat district where he had established three universities and two major hospitals.

They warned the government of agitation if work on the three arteries of Chitral was not started before start of winter season.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2021