TIMERGARA, Sept 1: At least 1,800 telephones have been out of order for the past several months in different parts of Lower Dir district, according to residents.

They told Dawn on Saturday that since the last several months many telephone lines in Talash, Ouch, Timergara, Munda, Samar Bagh, Khall, Akhagram and Maidan were dead, but despite repeated complaints the PTCL authorities had failed to remove the fault.

The people said that each time they lodged a complaint, they were told that some underground cables had developed a fault.

The subscribers of Talash said their telephones were dead for the past many months and they had even brought the matter to the knowledge of the PTCL high-ups in Islamabad, but in vain.

They also pointed out that local authorities of the PTCL, instead of removing the fault, advised them to buy wireless telephone sets or cellphones.

A PTCL official told Dawn that most of the underground cables had been damaged by recent rains and floods and new cables were not available to replace the old ones. He said the problem would be resolved as soon as the PTCL engineers were in a position to do so.