UPPE R DIR: The residents of Sheringal Kohistan have threatened to stage a demonstration and block DirPeshawar road to protest stopping of work on DirSheringal road project.

The Rs11.8 billion project was approved by the previous provincial government of ANP and work on it was started in 2010.

The residents of Sheringal said that stipulated time of the completion of project was 30 months. The project was scheduled to be completed in June 2013, they said, adding that only 40 per cent work was completed even after lapse of almost five years.

The residents of the area said that the contractors had stopped work on the road for the last one year. They said that they informed the district administration several times and requested it to put pressure on the contractors to expedite work and complete the project as soon as possible.

Rasheed, a local resident, said that the people of the seven union councils of Kohistan were suffering owing to the dilapidated condition of Dir-Sheringal road.

He said that 35 kilometres distance from Sherinagl to Dir took almost two hours. `It will take only 30 to 35 minutes after construction of the road,` he added.

Besides the residents of Kohistan valley, the studentsand teachers of Shaheed Benazir Bhatto University (SBBU), Sheringal and tourists coming to scenic Kurmrat valley also have complained about the dilapidated condition of the road and demanded its early completion.

An official of the university said that many international and national researchers and guests refused to attend the seminar oraganised at the university owing to the dilapidated condition of the road. `The researchers and guests refused to come to SBBU for attending the most important seminar in early June this year owing to bad condition of the road,` the official added.

Awami Ettihad Council of Sheringal (AECS) had organised a protest in Sheringal a week ago and demanded of the authorities to start work on road and complete the project as soon as possible. They had also threatened to march from Sheringal to Dir and block the main Dir-Peshawar road.

The leaders of AECS decided in a consultative meeting on Monday to organise a protest rally on next Friday and march from Sheringal to Chukiyatan and stage a sit-in there on the road.

They said that their sit in would continue if the authorities didn`t assure them about the timeframe for completion of the road project. Correspondent