Commuters suffer as KKH yet to be opened to traffic

MANSEHRA: The Karakoram Highway, which was blocked by recent flash floods in the Zaid Kawar area in Upper Kohistan, couldn’t be cleared to traffic after the passage of several days.

“A portion of that strategically important artery was washed away by flash floods earlier this week but it is yet to be cleared to traffic,” Mohammad Jabran, who was on his way to Gilgit via Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road, told reporters here on Thursday.

He said that though the commuters travelling between both federating units – KP and GB - were using the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road, those moving to Upper Kohistan were suffering adversely.

Mohammad Khaqan, a resident of Dasu, the district headquarters of Upper Kohistan, said that the passengers changed two vehicles to reach their respective destinations. “We move through a passenger coach and bus up to a broken piece of KKH in Zaid Kawar area and after crossing it by foot, took another vehicle to reach our respective destinations,” he said.

An official of the Frontier Works Organisation told reporters that a 70-meter long portion of the KKH was washed away by flash floods on August 27 and work to create another ramp was well in progress.