Cut off in Chitral

The 400,000 or so people of Chitral, including those in the remote mountain valleys scattered across the district, have effectively been cut off from the rest of the country as a result of the decision taken by PIA to ground its ATR aircraft which fly the route, combined with a decision by the Malakand administration to close the Lowari Pass following snowfall. This effectively means land and air routes into Chitral have been shut off. All the political parties in the district have met and demanded that the Lowari Pass be opened four hours daily or for two days a week so that food, medicine and other vital supplies can get through. The nazim of Chitral has also warned that Chitralis would face a starvation-like situation if these measures are not implemented. The MNA for the district, Shahzada Iftikharuddin, has strongly backed him and demanded Shandur Top also be opened to keep land routes functional and running across the remote district which faces peril in winter due to the difficulty in accessing it.

These latest measures have of course made access almost impossible. They come from an administration which is obviously not familiar with the situation in Chitral and not competent enough to consult its political leaders before putting in place the measures they have announced. While the safety of the ATR aircraft flying into Chitral will need to be determined by PIA and the CAA, with a team led by French technicians at the site where PK-661 crashed last week, keeping open land routes is a matter for the Malakand and provincial administration. It is obvious that this is a priority given the flight suspension, which is likely to persist for some time as increasing doubt grows over the condition of PIA’s struggling fleet. It is, however, imperative that everything possible be done to ensure the welfare of the Chitralis. There is always the possibility that a seriously ill person may need to be taken to a hospital away from the valley and of course it is essential that supplies of wheat and other items continue to come through. The demands raised by the people of Chitral need to be followed up with immediate steps to open roads blocked by snowfall. This may be an arduous task given that much of Pakistan consists of high mountain valleys with peaks that tower over most others in the world. Chitral is among those locations. But a way has to be found to prevent its people from being stranded in a situation where they have no access to the rest of the country or to the supplies that they depend on for survival.