CHITRAL, Dec 18: Life came to a standstill as a result of shutter down strike in Chitral city and major towns of the district on Tuesday in protest against the continued refusal of the government to open Lowari tunnel on daily basis. Besides Chitral city the strike was observed in Booni, Garam Chashma and Drosh.

The strike call was given by civil society organisations after the federal government did not pay heed to the calls for opening the tunnel after closure of road over Lowari top as a result of snowfall last month.

Bazaars of major towns gave a deserted look, while attendance in government offices and schools in Chitral remained thin due to unavailability of transport.

Besides, the lawyers boycotted the local courts to express solidarity with the protesters.

A rally was taken out from Polo Ground and at PIA Chowk it was addressed by former nazim Maghfirat Shah, traders union president Habib Hussain and district bar association president Ghulam Hazrat.

They criticised the federal government for ignoring their calls for opening of the tunnel for last one month.

They said that due to closure of the tunnel for four days a week people had been facing shortage of daily use commodities.

The speakers warned the government of protests if the tunnel was not opened for seven days a week.