Chitral Times Report
Chitral : Centuries old “Shandur Festival 2018” has officially been kicked off today i.e on the 7 of July, 2018. Shandur the “Roof of the world” is one of the major mountain passes that sits between Chitral and Ghizer District of GB. The flat top also serves as a venue for the 3-day polo festival where the best of the best players from Chitral and Gilgit meet in the finals. Holding such a massive festival at an altitude is very difficult, that’s why people at Chitral administration always quote “Shandur is not a festival, it’s a Battle” for which arrangement and resource mobilization starts from early February.
On First day three matches played between Chitral and Gilgit teams. First math was played between Laspur and Gazr , where Laspur Chitral team beat Gazr by 5-1 goal. In the second match Mastuj beat Yasin team by 5-8 goal. The third match was played between Chitral D and Gilgit D, where Chitral D won the match by scoring 6-2.
The Chief Minister KP Justice Retired Dost Mohammad Khan was chief guest on the occasion, distributed trophies among the winners. While in the second match Commandant Chitral Scouts Col Moinuddin was chief guest, distributed trophies.
Deputy Commissioner Chitral Khurshid Alam Mehsud is committed to celebrating this event with great zeal and fervor inviting media personnel to cover the event allowing the world to see the positive side of Pakistan. This will help in promotion of tourism industry and attraction of foreign and national tourists to Chitral.
DC Chitral said that “Lawari Tunnel will be open for vehicular traffic from 1-11 July in order to facilitate the tourists who are visiting Chitral to participate in Shandur Festival, Moreover, the national flag carrier will also operate extra flights to Chitral during the event”.
“We have installed dustbins at every Tent village established at Shandur for Solid Waste Management, portable washroom and clean drinking water has also been provided at every camp” said DC Chitral.
“The Volunteers of DC Chitral Volunteer Task Force have been engaged at entry points to welcome the guests and handover shopping bags to tourists to collect their waste and dump at designated waste collection points for further disposal and a massive cleanliness campaign will also be carried out just after the festival with the help of DC Chitral Volunteer Task Force and TMA Chitral and community organisations” he added.
“A state of the art fireworks and musical night will also be a part of the event, Moreover, it is the first time that the polo match will be played under flood lights” said DC Chital.
District Admin Chitral has invited visitors & tourists from across the Globe to experience a free style polo between two opposing teams Chitral & Gilgit Baltistan.
