Chitral — According to a press release issued by the Deputy Commissioner’s office quoting the decision of a concerned meeting at divisional headquarters Saidu Sharif, after the closure of the Lowari pass road, the tunnel would be opened for passenger vehicles once a week i.e on Friday from 7 am to 7 Pm. This will not include trucks and other goods vehicles which will be held back and allowed after these hours. It is not yet clear whether passenger vehicles would cross the tunnel both ways during this time or will have to wait for their turn if the tunnel is made one way. Chitralis have appreciated the 12 hour continuous opening arrangement instead of opening in roughshod patches like previous years, but have requested tunnel opening days to be at least twice a week.

It may be pointed out that PM Nawaz Sharif had repeatedly promised that the tunnel will be opened in December 2016 at all costs, but during his last visit to Chitral he gave the ‘khushkhabri’ in a public meeting that the tunnel will now be opened in June 2017 and the people naively applauded his announcement spontaneously, only to realise later what had happened with them. — CN report, 03 Nov 2017