CHITRAL: A suspension bridge in the Barenis area of Lower Chitral has fallen into disrepair, threatening the safety of commuters travelling on Shandur Road.

The strategically important bridge, currently under the care of the National Highways Authority, serves as the primary link connecting the districts of Lower and Upper Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Commuters and transport unions have raised alarm, saying that the majority of the wooden planks have broken under the weight of heavy vehicular traffic. Constructed by the Communication and Works Department using a robust steel structure, the original iron deck planks were replaced with wooden ones during routine maintenance later.

Residents of Barenis claim that the bridge’s condition began to deteriorate immediately after the NHA took over its operations in the absence of routine repairs, combined with an exponential increase in heavy traffic from regional trade and tourism.

Speaking to mediapersons, Maulana Abdur Rehman, district emir of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and a former MPA, expressed grave concern over the bridge’s bad condition.

He noted that hundreds of light and heavy vehicles crossed the shaky structure every day, putting passengers’ safety at risk. “A fatal traffic accident can happen anytime given the bad condition of the bridge,” Maulana Rehman warned.

He criticised the NHA’s ‘apathy’, pointing out that senior authority officials supervising the ongoing Shandur Road expansion project crossed the bridge frequently but continued to take the hazard lightly.

Repeated attempts by journalists and local leaders to contact the Chitral-based project director of the NHA’s Chitral-Shandur Road project for a response have failed, as phone calls remained unanswered.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2026