Ex-MNA demands restrictions on movement of people into Chitral

PESHAWAR: Shahzada Iftikharuddin, the former MNA from Chitral, has demanded restricting the movement of people to his district as part of measures to check the spread of coronavirus.

Talking to The News, he pointed out that a lot of people were entering Chitral via the Lowari Pass linking it with Upper Dir district and also from Gilgit-Baltistan and among them could be coronavirus patients. “Except emergencies, the movement of people especially outsiders to Chitral should be restricted. Chitral lacks testing and quarantine facilities and it won’t be able to cope with the challenge if people suffering from coronavirus entered the district and spread the disease,” he argued.

Shahzada Iftikharuddin said many Chitralis were working in the paramilitary Northern Light Infantry (NLI) in Gilgit-Baltistan and also as labourers. He noted that many of them were now returning to Chitral due to the countrywide lockdown and loss of jobs. He said Chitralis working in other parts of Pakistan were also returning to Chitral but there is no proper system to screen them. As the head of the Association for Mountain Areas Tourism, Shahzada Iftikharuddin pointed out that more than 25,000 people associated with the tourism industry and related sectors such as transport, dry fruit, etc had lost their livelihoods and needed to be supported by the government. He said the district administration had taken over possession of the four to five big hotels in Chitral town and turned them into quarantine centres. “The hoteliers are cooperating with the government, but the rooms in these hotels aren’t enough in case the coronavirus spreads in Chitral due to the unchecked arrivals of people in the district,” he added.