Residents of Karimabad and Sosom valley registered a new record in the history of Chitral when hundreds of people came out with their pawls and other machinery and repaired Karimabad road themselves.
The public had held a protest at the Sosom polo ground earlier. People from the Sosom and Karimabad valley had warned the government about the construction of the road and Hassanabad bridge.
Local people repaired the bridge on their own and then came out again for necessary repairs and maintenance by themselves. An aged woman explained that her house is situated beneath the road and the road had collapsed thrice, damaging her house each time. She said that she was poor and faced great problems during the reconstruction of her home. She was not supported by the district administration or the government during this time in any capacity.
Muhammad Ali, who is the principal of a public school at Breshgram, said “We approached our parliamentarians to motivate them to handle the problem by handing it over to the communication and works department (C&W), but they have still not started working on the road. The people were badly frustrated, and after no response from the government they started a campaign to repair the road on their own.”
Former district Naib Nazim and leader of Sosom valley, Sultan Shah said “We tried our best to hand over this road to C&W but they paid no attention to our plea.”
Residents of the area demanded the provincial government to hand over the responsibility to C&W and release funds for construction immediately. They said that the road passes through many mountains, has blind turns, and thus is very dangerous to travel by, particularly during snowfall.
