GILGIT: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed the National Highway Authority (NHA) to expedite the clearance of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) after a massive rockfall at Lotar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Kohistan district left thousands of passengers stranded on both sides of the road.

According to the GBDMA, continuous rainfall since Monday triggered heavy rockslides at 4am on Tuesday, completely blocking a 100-metre stretch of the KKH at Lotar, near Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan.

The KKH is the only route connecting Gilgit-Baltistan with the rest of Pakistan during winter, making its closure a severe disruption for residents, traders and travellers.

Among those stranded were patients en route for medical treatment, women and children, and truckers carrying essential supplies to GB.

Lotar is a remote and high-risk landslide-prone area, with no communication, food or shelter facilities, making it particularly challenging for stranded passengers.

“Waiting in a remote area without communication, shelter or food — especially during Ramazan — is extremely difficult. The clearance work appears slow and could take days,” he said.

Kohistani residents and district authorities have stepped in to provide Iftar meals to stranded passengers, as this marks the fifth time in 10 days that KKH has been blocked due to landslides.

A spokesperson for the National Highway Authority (NHA) confirmed that the NHA and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) teams are working with heavy machinery to clear the debris. Experts, engineers and manpower are present at the site.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2025