KP elders deplore suspension of work on Torkhow road

CHITRAL: Deploring the suspension of work on the Torkhow road, the elders on Saturday threatened to launch a protest campaign if the work on the project was not resumed within a week.

Speaking at a press conference here, residents of Torkhow and Terich Union Councils including former Member Provincial Assembly Syed Ahmad Khan, Saeed Khan Lal, Sifat Zareen, Waqas Ahmad, Syed Murad Ali Shah and others said that construction work on the Torkhow tehsil road had been suspended for the lastt six months.

The construction work on the road had been started in 2008 which could not be completed despite passage of 10 long years, they lamented.

The elders said that only 40 percent construction work on the road could be completed during this period. A population of 150,000 individuals was facing hardships in travel due to non-construction of the route, they added.

They said that Rs67.03 million, to be paid to the land owners as compensation, had been transferred to the bank account of the deputy commissioner.

“The amount is yet to be distributed among the owners,” said one of the elders.

They also accused Deputy Commissioner Irshad Sudhar of misbehaving with one of the elders when he took up the issue with him.

They also demanded the reconstruction of a bridge in Torkhow, which was torched by unknown persons a year back.

The elders threatened to observe a shutdown strike on April 15 if their demands were not accepted and construction work on the road was not resumed.