PESHAWAR, March 21: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday took notice of the pathetic conditions inside Kohat tunnel and directed the National Highway Authority (NHA) to repair the exhaust and lighting systems of the tunnel and then come for hearing of its cases.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Mian Fasihul Mulk observed that unless the NHA restored the exhaust and lighting systems in the tunnel the court would not hear any of its cases.

It directed the NHA authorities to explain what steps they had so far taken for restoration of the exhaust and lighting systems in the two-kilometre tunnel, which was badly damaged in bombing by militants in January last year.

The chief justice regretted that despite the passage of over a year the systems had yet to be repaired, causing inconvenience to motorists. The bench took notice of the issue while hearing several appeals filed by the NHA in a civil dispute with some landowners.

Unidentified persons had on Jan 29, 2011 blew up an explosive-laden truck inside the Pak-Japan Friendship Tunnel, commonly known as Kohat tunnel, connecting the central districts with southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In another incident a few years ago the militants in the nearby tribal region of Darra Adamkhel had entered the tunnel and left it badly damaged after carrying out explosions in it.

The chief justice said that passing through the tunnel had become hazardous for the traffic and several accidents had taken place. Moreover, the bench observed that in the absence of exhaust system the tunnel had turned into a health hazard as it always remained filled with smoke.