BISHAM: The elected members of Shangla District Council have demanded of the provincial government to start reconstruction of the 150 washed away link roads and bridges in the district.
The councilors including Shamsur Rehman, Ataullah and Sarfaraz Khan said on Tuesday that the state of affairs was in shambles in the flood-hit areas of the district due to the government’s negligence. They lamented that roads leading to remote areas have been closed as the provincial government had failed to reconstruct the devastated road infrastructure.
“The condition of roads is so poor that we carry our patients on mules to reach hospitals,” they said.
The district administration had provided six million rupees to the Construction and Works Department for the reconstruction of the link roads but despite the lapse of two months the work is yet to be started, they revealed, and demanded formation of an inquiry committee to probe the matter and bring those to justice causing the delay.
Meanwhile, residents of Shangla District warned the government of staging a sit-in at Karakoram Highway if reconstruction of the lone run down wooden bridge was not started, the only mean to connect three union councils, namely Raniyal, Kormang and Shahpur with the rest of the district.
They complained that the wooden planks and ropes of the bridge have been broken for the last few months but the government is yet to take any action.
They gave the government a five-day deadline for starting the reconstruction of the bridge, saying people have no other option to cross the river except using the broken bridge.
“We daily put our lives in danger and cross the bridge but the government has turned a blind eye towards it,” they said.
The dilapidated condition of the bridge could cause human loss any time, they feared, adding if any such incident happened they will register a case against district administration and deputy commissioner.
