Road to Yarkhun valley reopens after five months

ISLAMABAD: Traffic to the landlocked valley of Yarkhun in the Chitral district was restored after about five months when the local residents constructed a suspension bridge over the river on a self-help basis on Saturday, residents of the area told this correspondent.
The valley remains cut-off from rest of the district from April to October since 2006 when the only jeepable bridge over the Yarkhun River near Dizg village was washed away. With the decrease in the volume of water in the river in winter, people of the area build a temporary bridge to link the over 100km long valley of about 40,000 people with other parts of the district.
The project to rebuild the destroyed bridge has been kept in the cold storage for the last over two-and-half years. Work on the project was initiated twice but abandoned within a couple of months each time.
When contacted, MNA Shahzada Mohiuddin said funds for the Rs7.9 million project had been released by the provincial government and work at the site would be started soon.