CHAKWAL: “We remained stuck for four days on the other side of Ghabir Nullah with our herds of cows and goats as it remained swollen,” said Mohammad Ashraf, 73, who was tending to his goats in the jungle of Thirchak village.

Although the greater Ghabir flows from the foothills of Salt Range near Jaba village of neighbouring Khushab district, its offshoot, which is also called Ghabir, sprouts from the foothills of a mountain where Samarkand Fort can be traced hidden under the thick grass and Sanatha (Dodonaea viscosa) plants. The greater Ghabir diverts its way to Talagang area and surrenders itself to Soan River near Chaki Shah Jee village while its offshoot embraces Soan near Mathrala village.

Thirchak and its surrounding hamlets like Alipur, Kalu Wali Chakki, Dhoke Pindi, Dhoke Kotehra, Dhoke Maari and Dhoke Piraan Wali are located across Ghabir which springs from the bottom of the Salt Range’s ridges lying between Maira Aimah and Wasnal villages.

The road to these villages, which branches out of Kallar Kahar-Talagang Road, is carpeted but only up to the Maira Aimah village which boasts of having a well of Buddhist era. From Maira Aimah village the ordeal of the residents of Thirchak and its surrounding villages begins as this rundown road has not been repaired since its construction in 1985. Although the road was built in 1985, the bridge over Ghabir is yet to be constructed.

Consequently thousands of villagers have to cross Ghabir which flows quietly most of the year but gets overflowed whenever torrential rains lash the area. The residents of nearby villages of Talagang also use this dilapidated road whenever they have to travel on Islamabad-Lahore Motorway as it provides the shortest link to Kallar Kahar Interchange.

As Chakwal witnessed unusual rains this year the woes of the residents of the above-mentioned villages also intensified. “We could not go to our homes for four days as unprecedented rains battered the area on July 16 and 17,” says Mohammad Ashraf who along with his fellow shepherds remained stuck on the other side of Ghabir nullah.

“Our post office is Kallar Kahar; our tehsil is Kallar Kahar, and the sole hospital of the area is also in Kallar Kahar while major educational institutions and bazaar are also in Kallar Kahar. But during the rainy season we cannot go to Kallar Kahar as Ghabir is in high flow,” moans Mr Ashraf.

“Our fields and meadows are located on the other side of Ghabir and we have to cross it on a daily basis to reach the fields and to take our cattle to the meadows for grazing,” says Ghulam Fareed who owns eight cattle and seven goats.

Malik Shaukat Iqbal, another native of the area, told Dawn that if there was rain in Khushab area, Ghabir nullah would surge.

“The major crop of our area is groundnut but we face intense difficulties in transporting our produce to the grain market due to unavailability of a bridge,” says Azmat Bilal.

The villagers told Dawn that their appointments with doctors in Kallar Kahar were missed due to deluge in Ghabir while in emergency medical conditions they have to go to Talagang.

Qazi Asad Awan, who has initiated a campaign for the construction of the bridge, said local politicians always ignored this area.

When contacted, Executive Engineering Punjab Highway Department Mohammad Adeel told Dawn that “a feasibility report amounting to Rs434.087 million has been prepared”.

He added that the scope of work required re-alignment of the existing road network along with construction of the bridge.

MNA Sardar Ghulam Abbas and MPA Malik Falak Sher Awan both told Dawn that they would try their best to get the bridge constructed. MPA Sher Ali Khan also vowed that he would request Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for provision of funds for the construction of the bridge over Ghabir.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2025