Rebuilding of protection wall on Mansehra-Naran Road demanded

MANSEHRA: The people of Balakot on Saturday demanded the government to reconstruct the protection wall on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road which had been washed away by the flood water in the Kunhar River at Shawal Mazullah area of the tehsil.

“The protection wall built between Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road and Kunhar River has been swept away in the recent flash floods, which couldn’t be rebuilt as yet,” Ahsan Ahmad Khan, a resident of Shawal Mazullah, told reporters.

A group of locals led by Ahsan Ahmad Khan met with the journalists in Balakot and apprised them of the danger posed to the passenger transport and motorists. He said that the recent flash floods triggered by the monsoon rains had destroyed bridges and roads in Manoor valley.

The National Highway Authority had erected a board at the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road, warning motorists and passenger transporters of the danger, but didn’t reconstruct it even after months of its destruction.

“We have also met with high-ups of the National Highway Authority and Tehsil Municipal Administration Balakot and sought immediate reconstruction of the protection wall but to no avail,” Khan said.

Meanwhile, the NHA has started repairing the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road from Mansehra to Balakot after a prolonged delay.

The people demanded the chairman of NHA to ensure quality work as the artery was also used by the tourists and links Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.