Stranded tourists and motorists leave as Mansehra road reopened

MANSEHRA: Thousands of tourists, passengers and motorists left for their respective designations across the country after the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road was cleared for traffic on Monday evening.

The artery, which links Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit-Baltistan, was blocked to all sorts of vehicular traffic in the early hours on Sunday, after heavy landslides fell on it in the Ghanool area of Balakot tehsil.

“Unfortunately, the National Highway Authority could clear the road to traffic after over 42 hours as women, children, tourists and even locals remained stranded all that period and slept in their vehicles in a miserable condition,” the former MPA Mazhar Ali Qasim said.

The NHA couldn’t remove or blast the huge rock detached from the nearby mountains and opened the blocked portion merely for onside traffic. Tourists and locals who were without their vehicles made their way out from the lower parts of Kaghan Valley to Mansehra through unfrequented mountainous routes.

A tourist from Lahore, Mohammad Mumtaz, said that he was with his family and remained stranded here for the last two days.“We came here through a recreational group and most of us are now sans money and now borrowed from others to meet extra expenses incurred on stay and meals,” he said.

Mehar Ali from Lahore said visitors, especially women and children, were scared of the situation.“This artery is in a highly dilapidated condition and the government should ensure its blacktopping, and build protective walls along with landslide-prone areas for the safety of tourists,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Adnan Battani told reporters that Chinese engineers working in a local dam also extended their support in clearing one-sided traffic.