Roads’ closure adds to travel woes, price hike in Chitral
Daily Times – By Manzoor Ali Shah
PESHAWAR: Closure of roads due to military operation in Malakand division has increased the travel woes of Chitral residents and they have either to rely on flights (which depend on weather) or travel through Bajaur Agency.
Late on Monday, four Chitralis travelling to Peshawar from the district were killed by militants in Bajaur. The dead were identified as Syed Hussain and Syed Anwar Hussain, sons of Syed Ameri, residents of Karimabad, Abdul Jalil, resident of Kosht, and Jamshaid Ahmad, resident of Shogram village.
The driver of the passenger van told Daily Times that around 10 militants arrived in a double cabin pickup and asked if there were any security personnel and government employees, they come down. The militants took four persons away ordering others to leave.
The bullet-riddles bodies of the four passengers were handed over to Chitral Scouts personnel deployed in Bajaur after identification who sent these dead bodies to Chitral.
The residents are forced to pass through Bajaur to reach Timergarah in Lower Dir district as the Malakand Road has been closed since the operation was launched on April 25 in Maidan area of Lower Dir.
The landlocked district which often remains cut off from the rest of the country has been badly hit by closure of roads as the only other alternative route is through Bajaur, which in addition to its rough conditions is also not safe for passengers, while the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights from Peshawar and Islamabad (which depend on weather conditions) have failed to remove the travel woes of the public.
Majority of the people cannot afford air ticket as it is costly for them. Suspension in scheduled flights to the district for several days due to inclement weather is also a routine and is pushing the people to risk their lives by travelling through unsafe areas.
In addition to causing travelling woes, closure of roads has also caused price hike as supply of edibles and other essential items could not be restored since the Lowari Top’s closure in December last following heavy snowfall. It was opened for traffic in May, but was again closed due to military operation in Malakand division.
The district is facing an upward trend in prices of commodities and a resident told Daily Times over telephone that a kilogram of chicken meat was being sold at Rs 220, 130-gram bread at Rs 10 and a bag of cement for Rs 500. At the same time a few foreign and local tourists turned up for the Chilim Jusht Festival of Kalasha in May and Shandur Polo Festival was ended on June 09 due to security situation.
Chitral Bazaar Traders Union President Habib Hussain Mughal told Daily Times that militancy and military operation had hit the district’s economy hard. He said that not only supplies were halted to the district, but also the number of tourists dropped that affected tourism industry with which many people were associated. “This year very few tourists visited the district due to law and order problems in Malakand,” he said.
He said that the elected representatives of the district had failed to highlight the problems being faced by the locals on assembly floors and in media.
“A provincial minister who belongs to Chitral, even refused to meet us when we asked him for time to apprise him of the district’s problems,” Mughal allegedly said.
