Chitral, Dir residents want Lowari Tunnel open round the clock

DIR: Miseries of the passengers continue even one year after the inauguration of the Lowari Tunnel as they have to wait for hours on both sides of the tunnel.

When former prime minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the Lowari Tunnel in July 2017, people of Chitral hoped that they would not have to wait on both sides of the tunnel.

Vehicles and passengers are allowed to go into the tunnel in shifts, the method which was adopted before its inauguration.

Ijazuddin, a resident of Chitral, said that vehicles were not allowed through the tunnel without shift timings and people cannot use it even in emergency situations. He said that it was unfair to stop vehicular traffic when there was no work going on inside the tunnel.

Another Chitrali alleged that the tunnel authorities were discriminating on like and dislike basis by giving permission to some vehicles to use the tunnel without scheduled timing while disallowing others.

Tourists from Lahore and other cities of Punjab said that they had come on their bikes to see the Lowari Tunnel. However, they said they got extremely disappointed because they were not allowed to cross the tunnel with motorbikes.

They said that they had come to watch the tunnel but they could not do so due to the ban on motorcycles’ entry into it.

Long queues of vehicles are still witnessed on both sides of the Lowari Tunnel and the passengers and drivers have to wait for hours whenever they miss the scheduled timing.

The people of Chitral and tourists have demanded the government to allow them to use the tunnel round-the-clock.