Chitralis complain of poor facilities
CHITRAL, March 28: Residents of Yarkhun Valley have complained about shortage of basic facilities and held the successive governments responsible for their misery.
Chairman of Tahafuz-i-Huqooq Yarkhun Ahmad Nawaz Shah told Dawn on Wednesday that the valley lacked healthcare and educational facilities, clean drinking water and proper roads.
He said most of the valley residents were poor, while natural calamities, including glacial outburst, avalanches, mud sliding and soil erosion, added to their sufferings.
Mr Ahmad said winter lasted more than five months in the valley restricting locals’ options for growing crops.
He said Yarkhun was a single crop zone with terribly low productivity, which fulfilled hardly 20 per cent of locals’ needs.
“Due to harsh climatic conditions and altitude, no fruits and vegetables can be grown here for household consumption and generating money,” he said, adding that locals left the valley in winter for other districts to earn livelihood.
The Tahafuz-i-Huqooq Yarkhun chairman said most parts of the valley had no roads forcing people to cover long distances by feet.
He also complained about lack of health and educational facilities and said the valley had no high school, while people had been forced into drinking contaminated water to the damage of their health.
Mr Ahmad said in light of the peculiar nature of the soil, cultivation of hashish and opium was introduced in the valley in 1930s, while farmers benefited a lot from the bumper crops they produced thereafter.
He said charas business was a major source of revenue for the formerly state of Chitral, while locals flourished by cultivating hashish.
He, however, said poppy cultivation was prohibited by the government in early 1970s with the promise of royalty but that was never paid to the locals’ misery.
Since I have been to those areas and as an eye witness, I agree with what Mr. Ahmad has described here about the miserable condition of the people of Yarkhoon Valley and the lack of facilities of life over there. I have also the same feelings as Mr. Ahmad has about the attitude of the provincial government towards those areas. Those areas are totally neglected and no body cares for them.Beyond Yarkhoon,there is another valley called BROOGH HILL which is even remoter to Yarkhoon and presents a picture of the Medieval period of the human history. I appreciate Dawn ans the Pamir Times to give a coverage to those areas which need attention of the government, the NGOs and the Civil Society members.