SWAT: A large number of residents of Chail Bashigram on Friday blocked the main Madyan-Kalam Road in protest against the delayed construction of the Chail Bashigram Road.

Chail Bashigram is a major tourist area in the Madyan Valley, known for trout fish, lush green mountains and crystal clear glacial water.

However, the road from Madyan Bazaar to the Bashigram area has been in bad condition for the last 15 years, causing transportation hardships to local people as well as to tourists.

The protesters were led by Tehsil Nazim Miah Shahid Ali, former MPA Syed Jafar Shah and others.

The speakers said that they had approached the local parliamentarians, the district administration and authorities concerned in this connection but nothing was done practically for the construction of the road.

“As the road runs through the mountains, its poor condition is very dangerous. Several accidents have occurred, killing dozens of people,” they said.

They also mentioned that during the rainy season, the movement of vehicles became very difficult. “We demand a proper start date for the road construction, otherwise, we will completely block the Madyan Road until the construction work is started,” they warned.

Long queues of traffic on both sides of the road were witnessed due to the blockade. After the intervention of the Assistant Commissioner Bahrain and senior officials of the Communication & Works Department, the protesters agreed to reopen the road.

They warned that if construction did not start soon, they would again block the road.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024