MANSEHRA: The twoday Naran festival failed to attract tourists because of continues rains and off-season for tourists here in Kaghan valley.

The district administration of Mansehra with the financial assistance of various departments, including Kaghan Development Authority and Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had organised the festival in Naran on August 25 and 26.

Local people said that the festival could not attract tourists because it lacked culture and entertainmentrelated events besides food stalls.

The venue of festival at the bank of Kunhar River, where stalls of different goods were erected, was hit by heavy rain and windstorm before start of the festival on Aug 24.

The rain continued intermittently f rom Aug 24 to 26 and affected the entire show as roads were blocked and temperature plunged drastically where nobody could sit in the open.

Sources said that the local governments of district and village councils of Kaghan were not taken on board regarding the timing of the festival by the district administration, making this cultural activity a futile exercise.

They said that deputy commissioner Shah Rukh Khan had opened the festival with virtually no tourists, while most of the seats were occupied by students of local schools.

They claimed that singers presented Indian songs instead of promoting local folk music.

UPLIFT SCHEMES: The newly-elected district nazim of Torghar, Dilroz Khan, has said that he would take the opposition parties along to smoothly execute development schemes in the district.

`We will put our district on the way to prosperity and development while focusing onthehealthandeducadon sectors,` Mr Khan told a gathering at Judbah here on Saturday.

The local people warmly received the new nazim in Judbah. `We will serve the people by starting development schemes in Torghar, which was given a status of district a few years ago, but still lacks basic facilities,` said the nazim.