MANSEHRA: Vehicular traffic resumed between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan on Saturday after the Kaghan Development Authority removed landslides from the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road near Soach area.

“The MNJ Road, which was blocked by landslides, is now open,” KDA assistant director Asad Shahzad Khan told reporters.

He said the visitors had thronged Kaghan valley and the administration was ensuring the provision of the best possible facilities to them.

Landslides blocked the artery in Soach and Basal areas on Friday night suspending the KP-GB traffic. The stranded people included both tourists and regular travellers.

Mariam Khan, a tourist from Lahore, welcomed the development and said she along with her family was having a really good time in the picturesque valley.

Kaghan hotels report high tourist arrivals

“Glaciers, Kunhar River and pleasant weather in the summer season make this region an ideal tourist destination, especially for those living in other parts of the country,” she said.

Chairman of the Kaghan Hoteliers Association Hassan Deen hailed the influx of tourists and said the local hotels were catering to the needs of visitors.

He said the local hotel industry and related businesses were badly hit from last year’s flash floods as well as Covid-19 pandemic, so the rising tourist arrivals would make up for their loss.

RECONSTRUCTION: The residents of Razila valley in Upper Kohistan district on Saturday demanded of the provincial government to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by the recent flash floods.

“Besides houses, infrastructure and standing crops, floodwaters also swept away our road linking Razila with other parts of Upper Kohistan. As the reconstruction hasn’t taken place yet, we’re suffering. Children don’t go to schools fearing landslides, while we even struggle to take patients to the nearby health centres,” Maulana Waliullah Tohidi told reporters in the Kamila area.

Accompanied by the residents, Mr Tohidi said the valley had been cut off from the rest of the district since the floods hit it.

Another resident, Mir Ghulamullah Khan, said the frequent soil erosion and landslides threatened public life in the area.

“The entire Razila valley is threatened by landslides, so the district administration should step in and ensure embankments along the local river,” he said.

Another resident, Maulana Afzal Safdari, warned if the road wasn’t rebuilt without delay, the residents would block the Karakoram Highway.

Meanwhile, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre on Saturday began the distribution of sacrificial meat in Kolai-Palas district along with seven other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The initiative, Qurbani Project, will benefit 79,331 people, said a news release issued by the Saudi Embassy.

It added that the National Disaster Management Authority, local governments and nongovernmental organisations would partner with the Saudi charity for meat distribution to deserving families and flood victims in Kolai-Palas, Nowshera, Dera Ismail Khan, Swat, Upper Dir, Mardan, and Charsadda.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2023