A novel protest in Chitral

by Zahir Udin

CHITRAL, Nov 22: The residents of Booni adopted a novel way to protest against the alleged indifference of the local MPA towards the roads of the town which are in dilapidated condition.

The residents of Mastuj tehsil told Dawn that about 500 people including schoolchildren on Sunday embarked upon repair of road by filling the ditches with shingle and soil.

One Shujauddin said that the road had been blacktopped about fifteen years earlier and since then not a single penny had been spent on its maintenance. “MPA Ghulam Mohammad belonged to this town and over 90 per cent votes had gone to him in the general elections from the town but he gave nothing to the citizens in return,” he added.

He said the people had appealed to him time and again during the last two years for repair of the road but he remained ‘indifferent’ in this regard.

Mr Din, a local, said that the people had no option but to repair the road by their own. He said that the work would continue till completion and more people would join them on Monday while some people had provided materials and hired tractors.