CHITRAL, Feb 19: A member of district council and standing committee for irrigation has claimed that a ‘shady’ deal in awarding the contract for the construction of Atahk channel will cause public exchequer a loss of millions of rupees.

The member, Subhanuddin, in a statement here on Monday said that the contract had been awarded 75 per cent above the estimated cost of the project which is 130 million rupees.