Swat admin claims tourists were facilitated on Eid

MINGORA: The Swat district administration said Sunday it was fully devoted to provide facilities to tourists and was able to clear the roads during Eid holidays despite the unprecedented rush.

“The traffic from Manglore to Malam Jabba was somewhat slow from 3 pm to 8 pm on June 6 due to very heavy traffic load, which got cleared around 9 pm, hence there was no possibility of any tourist spending night on this road. Afterwards, on June 7, 8 and 9, absolutely no traffic congestion was reported on this road,” said Deputy Commissioner Saqib Raza.

The official added that Bahrain to Kalam road was under construction and on three places in this 35 km track only single track passing was possible. He said that the presence of thousands of vehicles and road condition on the 6th of June made vehicle movement very slow, and it took almost six hours to reach Kalam from Bahrain.

“Apart from 1700 police force, 250 Levies personnel and 100 Civil Defence volunteers under supervision of all officers of district administration and police had been present in the field since June 5 which made movement of thousands of vehicles possible on Eid days,” he said and added that chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had taken notice of overcharging of hotels at scenic places.

He said that immediate crackdown and inspections were launched on the instructions of the chief secretary, where 10 hotels were found overcharging and were fined. The official added that operation against overcharging by hotels and other tourists outlets would continue throughout the season.