How hard to reach the heavenly Chitral!

Yawar Abbas
There is a place in the north,covered with a light blue roof sticking on huge pillars of mountains.The singing of fresh breeze,the freshness and the sweetness of flowing river which divides the heaven into two parts,each shows the true face of beauty where nature always remains in its peak.Once in life, visiting Chitral is everyone’s dream. The heaven on earth Chitral is located to the north of Pakistan which is the largest district of Khyber Pakhtun Khua.Chitral shares borders with Afghanistan and Tajikistan.Shandoor, world’s highest pologround is the convolution where both Chitral and Gilgit meet. We all witnessed the catastrophes of the flood all over the country.One third of the country was inundated by the flood waters .Chitral is also one the victims of the flood. Being at the lap of mountains it is always prone to natural disasters through out the year.The recent floods swept swaths of beautiful landscapes which otherwise used to attract tourist from across the country. When we cross the Lowari Tunnel we see the towering mountains welcoming the tourists and the fresh air cuddling them with a sweet touch. Moving onward we reach the Ashrait valley which is the starting point of Chitral and we see a stream flowing next to the village which always pose threat to the road and the residents of Ashrait valley.There is a metallic road between Ashrait and Mirkhani, yet it still needs to be repaired. Moreover the roads and the bridges connects towns and valleys. But, mostly these roads are swept away by the floods. As a result access to certain places becomes difficult. For instance, this year, in Reshun the national highway was swept away by the flood. It took weeks to restore the transport. This caused the locals and the tourist stranded in far flung areas. According to Chitral News; The arch-shape bridges which connects valleys and town to the district headquarter are in pathetic condition. Those bridges can’t support a jeep to cross over. Since the maintenance work has not been carried out for decades, so , news come of collapsing bridges from one place or another. The collapse of a decades old bridge in GaramChashma region is an example in hand. The wood used in these bridges come from lower Chitral at very high cost. This form of building bridges over numerous rivers is against environment.construction of concrete bridges is the need of the day.Moreover, construction of suspended bridges leads to deforestation. So it is advisable that a shift in engineering may be brought. Concrete or steel bridges are not only durable but it can also be used for heavy traffic.