Lowari Tunnel scheme: Prime Minister's visits may prove a boon to Chitral's lifeline project

The back to back visits of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Chitral this year has given a ray of sunshine to the people of the district who now believe that the unfinished Lowari tunnel project would not be abandoned by the PML-N government. Prime Minister Sharif, who visited Chitral twice when July's devastating floods and October's earthquake played havoc in the area, had announced that Lowari tunnel project would be completed by the end of 2016.
The Lowari tunnel is lifeline for the people of Chitral as it connects the district with rest of the country in winter. The issue of tunnel project remained the pressing demand of the people during both the visits of the prime minister to Chitral, forcing him to give a deadline for completion of the tunnel by end of next year. Chitral, a remote district in northern Pakistan, is considered to be the stronghold of former military strongman General Pervez Musharraf after he restarted work on the 8.75 km (5.45 miles) long under-construction road tunnel in September 2005.
The work on the tunnel that began on September 8, 1975 was inaugurated by the late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, but was stopped in 1976 by the then military dictator General Ziaul Haq on the pretext of lack of funds and other development priorities. However, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to Chitral after a long period of 16 years gave a new ray of hope to the people, as he unlike his predecessor Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, announced the tunnel would be completed by next year at all costs.
When contacted, a local leader of PML-N's Chitral chapter said that the prime minister's announcement to complete the tunnel has not only helped the party's strengthen in area, but also brought back the smile on the faces of people. He said that the people had lost all hope that after Pervez Musharraf, perhaps no leader would take interest in the project as the previous PPP government diverted all funds earmarked for the tunnel to Multan by the then Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Nizamuddin, a local of the area told Business Recorder on phone that PM Sharif knows that timely completion of the tunnel would make the district a stronghold of the party, adding if All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) of General Musharraf is popular in the area despite no presence on other parts of the country, it is due to his love for Chitral. "Pervez Musharraf still rules over the hearts of Chitral that he took a bold step by restarting work on the tunnel which was stopped by the Ziaul Haq...successive leaders after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not realise the problems of Chitral but it was Musharraf who took the bold step and opened the tunnel," he added. The inordinate delay in the construction on Lowari Tunnel have resulted in widespread problems for residents as the district remains cut-off from rest of the country during winter for about six months.