CHITRAL: Residents here on Sunday rejected a new traffic schedule issued by the National Highway Authority (NHA), which mandated closing the Lowari tunnel to vehicular traffic for 12 hours a day.
Presently, the vital transport corridor remains open round the clock.
According to the NHA notification, the revised schedule was designed to ensure a smooth flow of traffic through the 10-kilometre-long tunnel, which handles thousands of vehicles daily.
Under the new rules, the tunnel is stated to operate on a rotational basis: closing for three hours and opening for three hours, totaling 12 hours of closure each day.
The people of Chitral have challenged the NHA’s logic. They argued that the sudden closure intervals would create traffic hazard and massive gridlock, as hundreds of vehicles would accumulate at both ends during the three-hour shutdown periods.
Local commuters expressed deep concern that allowing a massive convoy of hundreds of accumulated vehicles to pass through the unfinished tunnel simultaneously would lead to a catastrophic accumulation of poisonous emissions, given the complete lack of a proper ventilation system inside the structure.
Condemning the move, senior spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Niaz A. Niazi termed the NHA’s decision wrong, illogical and incomprehensible.
In a press release, Niazi pointed out that no such timing restrictions existed for the Kohat and Swat tunnels.
“Keeping the Lowari Tunnel closed to traffic for 12 hours daily under the guise of standard operating procedures amounts to a double standard and open discrimination by the NHA,” Niazi asserted.
He demanded the immediate withdrawal of the discriminatory order, warning that the closure schedule would force thousands of passengers including students, women, patients, and children to endure unbearable traveling hardships.
Meanwhile, keeping in view the alert issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) regarding potential glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) triggered by a sudden surge in temperature, Rescue 1122 Lower Chitral has established joint Quick Response Teams (QRTs) in the highly vulnerable valleys of Golen, Madaklasht, and Arkari.
A spokesman for Rescue 1122 told Dawn that these joint teams have been formed in close cooperation with the district administration.
The personnel comprise frontliners from Rescue 1122, the local police, Chitral Scouts, and the Levies Force. The core objective of this deployment is to ensure a timely, well-coordinated and effective emergency response in the event of a GLOF, flash flood, landslide or any other climate-induced natural disaster.
To review the field preparedness, Deputy Commissioner Lower Chitral, Mr. Rao Hashim, along with the District Emergency Officer of Rescue 1122, visited the sensitive, GLOF-prone areas to inspect the operational readiness and logistical arrangements of the deployed response units.
The emergency plan also includes enhancing the local Early Warning System (EWS) and building community resilience by collaborating with local volunteers. The specific roles and responsibilities of all deployed personnel have been clearly defined to enable swift action.
Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2026
