CHITRAL: About 300 youths from Torkhow valley of Upper Chitral helped a contractor complete a reinforced concrete cement (RCC) bridge in Istaru village, working continuously for 12 hours.

Hussain Zareen Charwelu, a leader of the youth, told Dawn that the inordinate delay in completion of the bridge had become a big issue for the residents of Torkhow and Terich valleys as it connected the valleys with rest of the district.

He said the contractor of the communication and works department was in a fix as he required a large number of labourers to complete the bridge’s deck in one go.

Mr Charwelu said youth from three villages decided to lend help to the contractor complete work on the bridge in a single day.

Jalaluddin, a retired army official who also worked on the site, said it was a huge task as they had to fill the 200-foot-long and 10-foot-wide deck of the bridge with gravel-cement-sand mixture in a single day.

He said the bridge was a game changer for the valleys of Torkhow and Terich, adding it would take another two weeks before the traffic was restored on it.

He said heavy vehicles would also be able to come to the valleys using the bridge.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2021