DOZENS of makeshift stalls selling locally-produced fruits, especially the popular blood-red oranges known as Palai malta, have cropped up along the Malakand Pass - the historic road serving as a tourism gateway and trade lifeline for Malakand, Swat, Shangla, Chitral and other districts in Malakand Division with the rest of the country.These fruit stalls revive memories of the pre-militancy era when little girls and boys used to welcome each passing vehicle of tourists to the Malakand Pass by offering bouquets of jasmine flowers and baskets of walnuts, apricots, apples or pears in return for a few coins.

With militants in Malakand Division on the retreat since the summer of 2009 and the security forces declaring a victory against them in February 2010, the shriveling tourism industry – once the mainstay of the economy of Malakand – has started to take an about turn this winter, notwithstanding the additional challenges posed by the unprecedented floods last July.

“Despite the high price of oranges this winter season, consumers, mostly visitors from other parts of the country, buy the juicy malta, eat it at the stalls and even bring along with them as gifts for friends and family members,” says a vendor.

His stall is one of the 100 small and big makeshift stalls selling locally-produced oranges from Dargai to Malakand Khas along the 15km zigzagging Malakand Pass.

His customers are the thousands of passengers travelling in the scores of buses, coaches, cars and other vehicles plying daily between the northern districts of the country and the rest of the country – from Peshawar to Islamabad and Karachi.

While the countrywide famous oranges, kinos, grapes, loquats, pears and apricots from Malakand’s fruit orchards are supplied to the rest of the country in commercial quantities, particularly well known both in the country and abroad because of their dense nutrition, good taste and finely textured skins are the Palai oranges.

Apart from Palai, others like Warthair, Khal and Rabat oranges are also sold at these stalls from December to April, although some vendors are known to try and deceive customers by mixing oranges from Manki Sharif, Mardan and even from Punjab and passing them off as the popular oranges from Malakand.

The price of a well-packed plastic-woven net bag of 100 Malakand oranges ranges from Rs500 to Rs700. People often gift this fresh fruit to friends in Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and even abroad.

“Due to high demand and rush of visitors, I earned a lot of profit this season,” says vendor Akhtar Hussain who wishes to expand his business further if peace was fully restored to the region and more tourists were encouraged to come to the scenic valleys of Swat, Dir and Chitral.

Another sign of the revival of tourism in Malakand is the sprouting of over a dozen new fish-selling points in the area from Amandara to Landaki along the bank of the Swat River.

The devastating floods last summer had washed away many of such makeshift stalls. But these and even more have now sprung back along the Swat River.

“The appetizing smell of frying fish and the eye-catching wooden stalls decorated with multicolored clothes attract droves of visitors,” says the owner of a fish stall.

“I had earned a lot of money this season. Now I have enough savings to expand my business,” he adds proudly.

Dozens of hotels at the foothills of the Malakand Pass near Dargai valley and along the main road from Batkhela to Thana region have also opened or re-opened, serving travelling passengers with delicious and mouth-watering dishes.

All these signs of the revival of tourism are indications that life is returning to normal in the scenic but violence-ravaged Malakand valleys.

The region had been hit hard by the spillover of militancy in 2007 from the tribal areas to the settled Swat district which later on also infested parts of other districts in Malakand.

The triumphant militants in Malakand region, proclaiming self-styled rule and talking about cleansing and purifying the lives of the residents, had terrorised tourists with bullets, kidnappings and blasts instead of welcoming them with showers of flowers and baskets of fruits.

These activities of the militants and the consequent prolonged curfews and closure of bazaars during the security forces operation had ruined businesses in the region, especially those of Batkhela and Sakhakot bazaars, once the hubs of trade activities known for the abundance of goodssmuggled from China and other foreign countries via Afghanistan.

For the militancy and flood-affected people in Malakand, which covers one-third of the total area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the picking up of sales in Palai oranges, the hustle and bustle at fish points and the revival of the hotel business along the roadside all constitute a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel.

This economic resurgence is in line with recent efforts by the government and the international community to revive tourism and agriculture in Malakand under a new rehabilitation and resettlement strategy.

Projects under this strategy are aimed at supporting livelihood recovery and development in agriculture, fish farms and other non-farm sectors like the hotel/tourism industry – sectors in which some 80 per cent of the people in Malakand are said to be dependent on.

However, these rehabilitation efforts have not gone without complaints from some locals.

One complaint comes from the former nazim of Palai Union Council, Sardar Ghani Bacha, who says that some 300 orchards of oranges in Upper and Lower Sher Khana, Zormandai, Shakot and Mora Banda areas of Palai have now shrunk to only 200 because farmers have been replacingorange orchards with other fruits, particularly pear orchards, which are considered less laborious and more profitable.

Mr Bacha says that the popularity of the locally-produced Palai oranges in Malakand is due to the specific climate and soil of the area which make the oranges distinct from others owing to its particular taste, shape and colour.

He demands that the government and agriculture department announce a special package for the growers of oranges and invest more in this sector to encourage the farmers.

Besides, there has also been no government attention or support from the international community for other important economic areas in Malakand like irrigation, energy and the mines and mineral sectors.

While the high mountains surrounding Malakand are known to be rich in yet-to-be exploited deposits of chromite, iron, china clay and fuller’s earth, improved irrigation is also considered crucial if Malakand’s orchards are to remain commercially viable.

While it is obvious that many issues still need to be addressed in the longer term, for the immediate future the people in Malakand – especially the fruit and fish traders and hoteliers – are hoping for more tourists to flock to their scenic valleys during the coming summer season.

DOZENS of makeshift stalls selling locally-produced fruits, especially the popular blood-red oranges known as Palai malta, have cropped up along the Malakand Pass - the historic road serving as a tourism gateway and trade lifeline for Malakand, Swat, Shangla, Chitral and other districts in Malakand Division with the rest of the country.These fruit stalls revive memories of the pre-militancy era when little girls and boys used to welcome each passing vehicle of tourists to the Malakand Pass by offering bouquets of jasmine flowers and baskets of walnuts, apricots, apples or pears in return for a few coins.With militants in Malakand Division on the retreat since the summer of 2009 and the security forces declaring a victory against them in February 2010, the shriveling tourism industry – once the mainstay of the economy of Malakand – has started to take an about turn this winter, notwithstanding the additional challenges posed by the unprecedented floods last July.“Despite the high price of oranges this winter season, consumers, mostly visitors from other parts of the country, buy the juicy malta, eat it at the stalls and even bring along with them as gifts for friends and family members,” says a vendor.His stall is one of the 100 small and big makeshift stalls selling locally-produced oranges from Dargai to Malakand Khas along the 15km zigzagging Malakand Pass.His customers are the thousands of passengers travelling in the scores of buses, coaches, cars and other vehicles plying daily between the northern districts of the country and the rest of the country – from Peshawar to Islamabad and Karachi.While the countrywide famous oranges, kinos, grapes, loquats, pears and apricots from Malakand’s fruit orchards are supplied to the rest of the country in commercial quantities, particularly well known both in the country and abroad because of their dense nutrition, good taste and finely textured skins are the Palai oranges.Apart from Palai, others like Warthair, Khal and Rabat oranges are also sold at these stalls from December to April, although some vendors are known to try and deceive customers by mixing oranges from Manki Sharif, Mardan and even from Punjab and passing them off as the popular oranges from Malakand.The price of a well-packed plastic-woven net bag of 100 Malakand oranges ranges from Rs500 to Rs700. People often gift this fresh fruit to friends in Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and even abroad.“Due to high demand and rush of visitors, I earned a lot of profit this season,” says vendor Akhtar Hussain who wishes to expand his business further if peace was fully restored to the region and more tourists were encouraged to come to the scenic valleys of Swat, Dir and Chitral.Another sign of the revival of tourism in Malakand is the sprouting of over a dozen new fish-selling points in the area from Amandara to Landaki along the bank of the Swat River.The devastating floods last summer had washed away many of such makeshift stalls. But these and even more have now sprung back along the Swat River.“The appetizing smell of frying fish and the eye-catching wooden stalls decorated with multicolored clothes attract droves of visitors,” says the owner of a fish stall.“I had earned a lot of money this season. Now I have enough savings to expand my business,” he adds proudly.Dozens of hotels at the foothills of the Malakand Pass near Dargai valley and along the main road from Batkhela to Thana region have also opened or re-opened, serving travelling passengers with delicious and mouth-watering dishes.All these signs of the revival of tourism are indications that life is returning to normal in the scenic but violence-ravaged Malakand valleys.The region had been hit hard by the spillover of militancy in 2007 from the tribal areas to the settled Swat district which later on also infested parts of other districts in Malakand.The triumphant militants in Malakand region, proclaiming self-styled rule and talking about cleansing and purifying the lives of the residents, had terrorised tourists with bullets, kidnappings and blasts instead of welcoming them with showers of flowers and baskets of fruits.These activities of the militants and the consequent prolonged curfews and closure of bazaars during the security forces operation had ruined businesses in the region, especially those of Batkhela and Sakhakot bazaars, once the hubs of trade activities known for the abundance of goods smuggled from China and other foreign countries via Afghanistan.For the militancy and flood-affected people in Malakand, which covers one-third of the total area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the picking up of sales in Palai oranges, the hustle and bustle at fish points and the revival of the hotel business along the roadside all constitute a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel.This economic resurgence is in line with recent efforts by the government and the international community to revive tourism and agriculture in Malakand under a new rehabilitation and resettlement strategy.Projects under this strategy are aimed at supporting livelihood recovery and development in agriculture, fish farms and other non-farm sectors like the hotel/tourism industry – sectors in which some 80 per cent of the people in Malakand are said to be dependent on.However, these rehabilitation efforts have not gone without complaints from some locals.One complaint comes from the former nazim of Palai Union Council, Sardar Ghani Bacha, who says that some 300 orchards of oranges in Upper and Lower Sher Khana, Zormandai, Shakot and Mora Banda areas of Palai have now shrunk to only 200 because farmers have been replacing orange orchards with other fruits, particularly pear orchards, which are considered less laborious and more profitable.Mr Bacha says that the popularity of the locally-produced Palai oranges in Malakand is due to the specific climate and soil of the area which make the oranges distinct from others owing to its particular taste, shape and colour.He demands that the government and agriculture department announce a special package for the growers of oranges and invest more in this sector to encourage the farmers.Besides, there has also been no government attention or support from the international community for other important economic areas in Malakand like irrigation, energy and the mines and mineral sectors.While the high mountains surrounding Malakand are known to be rich in yet-to-be exploited deposits of chromite, iron, china clay and fuller’s earth, improved irrigation is also considered crucial if Malakand’s orchards are to remain commercially viable.While it is obvious that many issues still need to be addressed in the longer term, for the immediate future the people in Malakand – especially the fruit and fish traders and hoteliers – are hoping for more tourists to flock to their scenic valleys during the coming summer season.