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Shandur Festival 2010, High level Meeting
held in Peshawar Chitraltimes Report
PESHSAWR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Sports, Tourism
and Culture Syed Aqil Shah while expressing his complete
satisfaction over the arrangements made by the provincial tourism
department, district administration Chitral and Chitral scouts for
the successful holding of shandur Polo Festival from July 7 to 9
this year, has said during the festival the whole shandur will be
decorated and president of Pakistan will be invited to grace the
final of the festival as chief guest.
This he said while presiding over a high level meeting convened to
review and finalizing arrangements for the Shandur polo festival
here on Tuesday. The meeting besides Secretaries Information and
Sports was also attended by GM STC Muhammad Azam Khan, DCO Chitral,
DPO Chitral, commandant Chitral Scouts, representative of C&W and
STC.
The meeting expressed its full satisfaction over the arrangements
made by the district administration Chitral and Chitral Scouts for
the festival. Syed Aqil Shah said every year. The lovers of the
game anxiously wait for the festival and this year Governors, Chief
Ministers of the four provinces, Federal and Provincial Ministers,
VVIPs and foreign ambassadors would be invited to attend the Mela.
Para gliding, magic show, puppet show , musical chair for children
and other colourful programme would be presented on the occasion.
He said arrangements would also be made for the special flight of
PIA from Peshawar and Islamabad.
Syed Aqil Shah directed the concerned authorities for improving the
roads to Shandur, establishing information centres for the
facilitation of tourists and making full arrangements for publicity
and security of the event.
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Holding of Shandur festival at danger
By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: The incomplete suspension bridge of Mastuj has put
the holding of Shandur festival in danger as presently the vehicles
cross the Laspur river through a makeshift bridge which will be
washed away any time with the rise of water level on melting of
glaciers. Talking to chitraltimes.com here on Tuesday, the
residents of Mastuj Syed Moliuddin Shah, Haji Wilayat Khan and
others said expressed their concern about the bridge and said that
the festival is being held from 7 to 9th July and is hardly three
weeks ahead but the bridge will not be ready by that time. they
said that the transportation of different items to the venue from
Chitral city by the district administration starts a month before.
Situated at a distance of 120 kms from the Chitral city, the bridge
over Laspur connects Laspur valley with the rest of the district
while Shandur lies in this valley. They feared that if the bridge
is washed away by water any time, then the strength of the tourists
to the spot will drop to abysmally low rendering the much trumpeted
event a redundant practice. They said that the contract of the work
had recently been awarded to a contractor by communication and
works department but work is in progress at very slow pace. They
feared that if the bridge is not completed by the festival time,
then Chitral will also lose a large number of foreign tourists as
they used to come here from Gilgit side via Shandur pass on this
occasion. They demanded that to make the event a success, work on
the rehabilitation of Mastuj bridge should be accelerated.
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