By Muhammad Luqman
Chitral, the town located on the extreme north-west tip of Pakistan, will now be connected to rest of the country throughout the year with the opening of 8.5 kilometres long Lowari Tunnel.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the tunnel on Thursday, saying that the project that was delayed again and again over the last 42 years, has ultimately been completed by his government.
The all-weather tunnel is located on the National Highway (N-45) that connects Nowshera, Mardan, Malakand, Chakdara and Chitral.
The project features two tunnels spanning 8.5km and 1.9km, access roads and 12 bridges, each of which is to be 35km long.
The construction of Lowari Tunnel has been a longstanding demand of the locals.
The project is expected to enhance economic growth through accelerated trade activity, generate employment opportunities for the locals, promote tourism and reduce travel time for passengers of commercial traffic.
The cost of the Lowari Tunnel project is about Rs 27 billion.
Work on the tunnel began on 8 September 1975, inaugurated by then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, but was stopped in 1976 on the pretext of lack of funds and other development priorities. Work on the tunnel did not restart till September 2005.
The tunnel will reduce the current fourteen-hour drive from Chitral to Peshawar by 50%. The tunnel will also facilitate all-weather transportation, as during the long winter season the Lowari Pass is closed, and people of Chitral have to travel into Afghanistan and then back into Pakistan to reach the rest of the country. When the border is closed Chitral remains virtually inaccessible during the winter.
