PARACHINAR: The main Parachinar-Peshawar Highway in Kurram district remained closed to all kinds of traffic on Friday for security concerns, the administration said.
According to officials, the road was shut in view of potential security threats, causing severe difficulties for patients, overseas Pakistanis, and people from various walks of life. As a result, hundreds of thousands of residents remained stranded.
At a time when the Parachinar-Peshawar main highway has once again been closed, alternative routes have become inaccessible after a road near a bridge at Sameer was washed away by floodwaters.
A social worker, Jameel, said that the main highway has remained closed for general traffic for the past two years, despite being used by official vehicles and influential individuals.
He added that people had been traveling through difficult alternative routes, but those have now also been cut off due to flooding, making the continued closure of the main road deeply concerning.
Parliamentary leader of Majlas-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen and Member National Assembly Engineer Hameed Hussain, expressed concern over the situation, stating that repeated road closures have made life miserable for the public.
He urged authorities to implement effective security measures instead of blocking roads, so that safe travel can be ensured.
The MNA said that public hardships are the result of negligence on the part of officials and called for immediate steps to keep routes secure and open to restore normal life.
A trader leader Imdad said that goods transported to Parachinar via alternative routes incur higher costs, forcing residents to purchase food items and other daily necessities at inflated prices.
The district administration maintained that the main highway was closed due to security concerns and that efforts were underway to reopen it.
It added that repair work on the flood-damaged road was in progress as well.
