www.chitraltimes.com

People of Yarkhun and Laspur are stranded.


People of Chitral are fortunate to have been blessed with heavy snow fall received with new year 2010 and at this time whole Yarkhun, Laspur and Mastuj valleys are covered with 14” to 28” snow and the people are stranded and unable to walk and travel to other villages. Livestock is confined to their sheds going to river for drinking water after removing snow. This year snowfall is said to be more what it was last year and farmers are happy to be able to get sufficient irrigation water this year as well.

56000 people of Yarkhun, Laspur and Mastuj are happy receiving the snow fall but at the same time are stranded to their houses and villages because of heavy snow fall and glaciers fallen on the roads. First time snow fall was removed by Village Organizations making road linkages possible with each other and rest part of the district, but continued snow fall made it difficult for the community to remove it by themselves. Whole Yarkhun, Laspur and Mastuj valley, about 150 km is now blocked for traffic. VOs of Brep, Khuzh, Kargin, Chapari and Chuinj removed snow and glacier from the road (30 km) and connected 8 villages to Mastuj and onward to Booni and Chitral. Jeep road Laspur and from Brep to Yarkhunlasht is closed waiting for removal of glacier that has stopped traffic and removing is possible by bulldozer.

Whole Mastuj, Yarkhun and Laspur people would have been blocked and disconnected from Booni and Chitral if QASADO not constructed Kruideri link road and jeep able bridge on river Yarkhun in 2005-6. This road from Mastuj to Parwak is now called Ithehad road and bridge named QASADO bridge. QASADO maintained this link road and bridge till 2008-9. C/W provided fund and constructed QASADO bridge in 2009 by its contractor but using QASADO materials.

QASADO, an umbrella organization of 56000 people of Yarkhun, Mastuj and Laspur requests District Coordinating Officer (DCO) and Executive Engineer C/W division Chitral to depute bulldozer for removing glaciers and connect valleys to Chitral.

Liaquat Khan
QASADO Mastuj
Chitral.