Road closure: Torghar residents threaten protest

PESHAWAR: The people of Torghar on Sunday threatened to stage a protest if the main road, which links their district with neighbouring Buner district, is not reopened to traffic within two-days. “The Torghar-Buner road was blocked to traffic due to a heavy landslide trigged by rains at various places last week but the district administration didn’t clear it,” Salman Khan, a local elder, told reporters in Judbah. A group of locals led by Khan told reporters that people of Torghar, the erstwhile tribal belt, were still living a miserable life even after getting the status of a settled district some 10 years ago.He said that the important artery was blocked at four points from Palosa Hassanzai to Khanano Dehari areas and people were suffering the brunt of it. “Our link with our relatives in Buner has been cut since the blockade of this 4km area from Manjakot to Gudar,” said Khan. Another local, Khalid Latif, said that the main artery was usually blocked in rainy weather and they had taken up the issue with the deputy commissioner and local MPA but to no avail. Speaking on the occasion, Fazl Raziq said that they would block Judbah-Darband road to traffic for an indefinite period if the district administration didn’t clear the road within the next two-day.