By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: With the approval of Chitral-Shandur road by the executive committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Wednesday last, the number of federal funded roads rises to four while the others being Chitral-Garam Chashma Road, Kalash valleys Road and Kalkatak-Chitral road.
Talking to the local media here on Sunday, the MNA from Chitral, Shahzada Iftikharud Din said that area-wise, the largest district of the province making one-fifth of its total area, the district had no proper road facility to connect its thirty six valleys with each other which was one the potent reasons of its backwardness.
Praising the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for the lavish announcement of road projects for Chitral during his visit to the area three years ago, he said that after the fulfillment of formalities, the projects are at the threshold of being launched.
He said that the 153 kms long Chitral-Shandur road had estimated cost of Rs.16.7555 billion connecting the district with Gilgit-Baltistan thereby directly linking with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route and it ranked second to the Lowari tunnel project in Chitral for its importance on multifarious grounds.
“This route will pave the way for the passage of alternate route of CPEC whose feasibility study tender has been floated by the National Highway Authority measuring 216 km from Gilgit to Shandur Top”, he said.
He said that tenders had been called for 82-kms Chitral-Gobor road at a cost of Rs. 8.66 billion and 32-kms Kalash valley (Bumburate, Birir and Rumbur) road at a cost of Rs. 4.6 billion while Rs. 10 billion had been earmarked for Kalkatak-Chitral apart from allocating 80 percent cost of the recently completed Lowari tunnel project.
“Chitral becomes the district which received highest amount of funds road projects from the present regime in the centre which amounted to more than Rs. 32 billion rupees while it also allocated Rs. 18 billion for the completion of Golen Gol hydro power project in the district”, he said.
The MNA also mentioned the Lot Oveer-Terich valley road project which had been approved in the central development working party (CDWP) meeting the other day which will pass through the foothold of Terich Mir, the highest peak of Hindukush system of mountains.
He said that the road projects will have far-reaching results on the socio-economic condition of Chitral where abject poverty and indigence reigned supreme as the roads will open new avenues of progress for the area.
He said that with the completion of Golen Gol hydro power project, the fabulous deposit of marble will be exploited as marble city is being established which was not possible without roads and it was heartening to know that the marble industry is estimated to create jobs to more than five thousand youth.
Mr. Iftikharuddin said that private sector will have a big boost with the completion of the road projects creating jobs to both the skilled and unskilled manpower which included tourism industry as well.
“The tendency of migration of local people to the lower districts of the country in search of jobs will come to an end if the private sector once gets an impetus”, he said adding that presently more than half of labour force left the district in the winters every year.
The MNA said that prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will inaugurate the work on the road projects of Chitral-Gobor and Kalash valleys road in the month of April which will be a milestone in the development history of Chitral.
He regretted that the regimes in the past had neglected Chitral in the field of development due to which it had no basic facility of road while PML-N government has the credit of initiating the much-needed road projects in the district.
