CHITRAL, April 15: The marooned people of the avalanche-hit Washich village have demanded of the government to announce substantial relief for the people hit by recent unprecedented snowfall. They also demanded that funding be provided to the area for rebuilding infrastructure.

Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, some influential people of Torkhow Tehsil, Mohammad Saeed Khan, Hussain Ahmed, Sardar Mohammad, Iqbal Murad, Sifat Zareen and others said the relief provided by the government to the affected people so far was insufficient.

They alleged that the district government had completely failed to provide relief in upper parts of Chitral as these areas were still cut off from the Chitral city despite the passage of one month and the provincial government had done nothing to restore normal life in the area by repairing the damaged roads and restoring the telephone and electric networks.

They demanded of the government to provide the affected people with timber permits and interest-free loans by banks so that the people marooned by the calamity would restart their lives.

Expressing their disenchantment, they said neither the prime minister nor the chief minister of the province bothered to visit the affected area which showed their indifference to the people of Chitral.

They demanded that loans be provided to them as soon as possible.