SHANGLA: The people of Lilownai and Pir Khana areas here have kicked off repair work on a 32-kilometre-long road connecting them with the district headquarters, Alpuri, on self-help basis.

The road was damaged by landslides during rains in April and May.

The decision was taken at a jirga on Monday, following which the residents of Pir Khana and Lilownai union councils started repairing the road.

Irfan Babu, a resident, said they had submitted several applications to the district administration, urging it to ensure repair of the road, but to no avail.

He said the road was badly damaged and blocked at several points during heavy rains.

Baseer Khan, former Alpuri tehsil nazim, said the elected representatives’ inefficiency and apathy had forced them to begin the road repair on self-help basis. He said the residents would clear the road of debris and landslides within a week.

Afsar Khan, who was removing debris from the road with a shovel, said local MNAs and MPAs only visited them during elections and then forgot them.

He said most people here worked as labourers either in coal mines or abroad to make a living for their families. He said they had got fed up with the lawmakers’ apathy.

Izat Rehman, another resident, said they started repairing the road voluntarily. He said even before the rains, the road’s condition was bad.

“What we are doing today is basically the responsibility of the government and elected people,” he regretted.

ACCIDENT: A private school bus van crashed against a roadside hillock on the Karakoram Highway near Bisham town on Monday, injuring its driver.

A Rescue 1122 official said the van was carrying students to school when the accident occurred. He said sensing the danger after brake failure, the driver crashed the vehicle against a hillock to save it from falling into a ditch. As a result, the driver was injured, but the students remained unhurt.

He said the injured was shifted to a hospital where he was stated to be in stable condition.

In another incident, a truck fell into a ravine in Borshat area of Kuz Kana. However, the driver remained unhurt.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2024