Torghar residents concerned over closure of road

MANSEHRA: The residents of Torghar on Saturday threatened to launch a series of agitation against the government if the Judbah-Darband Road, which was closed after the heavy landslides last month, was not cleared to traffic forthwith.

“We have been repeatedly taking up this issue with the district administration demanding removal of the landslides at the main artery but to no avail,” Zahid Khan, a local, told reporters.

Flanked by a group of locals, he said that the Judbah-Darband road, which connects Torghar with the neighbouring Mansehra district, Hazara Expressway and Karakoram Highway, was blocked to all sorts of traffic on July 30 due to landslides.

Another local, Rubnawaz Khan said that the people couldn’t take patients to Hospitals in Darband, Oghi and Mansehra owing to the blockade of the road.

Meanwhile, the District Development Advisory Committee Torghar’s Chairman MPA Laiq Mohammad Khan said that the provincial government had approved mega projects to end the deprivations of locals.

Speaking at a public meeting in Mungri village, he said that he had launched a mega development project as MPA in Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s previous government and would continue to serve the people.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Lower Kohistan Tariq Mehmood on Saturday said that the education system in the district was being overhauled to provide higher education opportunities to local students.