Once an isolated and obscure mountainous locality inhabited by a pastoral subsistence farming community with a distinct culture that is very different from the rest of Pakistan, the three valleys of Bumboret, Birir and Rumbur in the mountainous Chitral District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are now well-known scenic resorts, with tourism and the sale of locally manufactured wine forming the basis of an increasingly cash-based economy for the famous Kalash natives there.Wine made from grapes grown in the valleys by the subsistence farming Kalash people used to be only for the consumption of the non-Muslim polytheistic Kalash themselves.

They worship a plethora of ancestral gods and have many colourful merry-making religious festivals throughout the year where dancing and rhythmical chanting to the beat of drums is the rule and wine often the staple. The most famous of these festivals are Joshi Chilimjush in May and Chaumos in December.

But the opening up of the valleys to the outside world in recent decades has also gradually widened consumption of and demand for Kalash-made wine among increasing visitors, including Kalash-converted Muslims. This has encouraged wine-making by the Kalash on a commercial scale, so much so that wine distillation has actually developed into a small-scale industry in all three valleys with new techniques and gadgets being employed to derive the required produce from the grapes.

Of the three valleys, the most popular with visitors in this respect is Bumboret – where the magnificent wood-hewn Kalasha-Dur museum has been built with financial assistance from the Greeks to showcase the Kalash culture.

Bumboret is not only the largest and most picturesque of the three valleys, it is connected by a jeepable road, is only one hour's drive away from the district headquarters of Chitral and has the most attractive facilities for visitors, including guest houses and shops.

Visitors take advantage of the freely available wine and throng the valley in their leisure time, especially during festivals and on weekends, where they enjoy without fear from any quarters. As wine is commonly available in every Kalash house, many visitors become “paying guests” of the Kalash inhabitants.

According to one Kalash native, the demand for wine is increasing day by day and the livelihood of many Kalash is dependent upon wine-making. In fact, a considerable volume of the commodity is known to be smuggled out of the valleys and this is done through different routes to dodge police action.

Public concern about the smuggling activity and the increasing consumption of Kalash manufactured wine has prompted the formation of an action committee in Village Aryun, the entrance point to the three valleys, about 15kms from Chitral town.

Known as Tanzeem Islaah-i-Muashira, the action committee, which aims at saving the young generation from wine addiction, contends that the Kalash people should only be allowed to make wine for their own consumption and its distillation on a commercial scale should be discouraged with an iron hand.

The committee has apparently gained some success, it reportedly having managed to persuade a cross-section of the Kalash community to abandon the wine-making business and produce only enough for the natives.

A Kalash elder, Buduk Shah from Rumbur valley, says that the government should initiate programmes to create sustainable opportunities for self employment among the Kalash community. He believes the wine-making business can only be effectively curtailed if the Kalash people, numbering about 3,000 in the three valleys, are put on an economically sound footing.

As an alternative to the wine-making business, the Kalash natives could be helped to switch over to the commercial production of foodstuffs like apricots, walnuts, apples, etc., which have long been grown on a subsistence basis in their fertile and oak-rich forest valleys.