CHITRAL: Local MPA Syed Sardar Hussain Shah has demanded construction of a waiting room on Dir side of the Lowari tunnel to facilitate passengers traveling to Chitral as they are forced to wait under the open sky for hours waiting for their turn.

Talking to Dawn here on Sunday, he said that often passengers got fainted due to extreme cold as they had to wait for over almost six hours due to rush of vehicles on both sides of the tunnel.

He said that a good number of passengers consisted of women, children and patients who suffered most while waiting.

He said that there was no facility of toilet for passengers.

Mr Shah said that sometimes, passengers were forced to sit through the night, with women and children suffering the most. `The people of Chitral have no other option but to travel through the under-construction tunnel during the winter season, which extends to five months after the closure of Lowari top road for vehicular traffic,` he added.