CHITRAL-The condition of Chitral roads has deteriorated as most of the tracks have been washed away in floods and could not be rehabilitated and maintained by the government. There is no one to look after these roads though the Communication and Works (C&W) Department officials pocket millions of rupees every year in the name of maintenance.
When this correspondent visited the C&W Department office in Chitral, it emerged that many staff were sitting at homes or doing their own business and never performed their duties for long. SDO Tariq Ali confirmed that some staffers were drawing their salaries while sitting at homes without performing their duties.
He said the road maintenance workers including Shujauddin from Barenis, Rahmat Baig from Singor, Bashir Ahmad from Singor, Fazluddin from Singor, Rahmat Qadir, gardener from Denin, road workers Muhammad Gul and Munawar Shah from Zargarandeh had been absent since long. They have been issued notices for their absence.
He said Fazluddin of Singor had been issued notices reveatedly since 2015 but he never attended the office and was still drawing salary while sitting home.
When contacted, the account officer said that he had withheld the salaries but later released on the direction of the XEN because of pressure from some influential persons. He said Shujauddin from Barenis was settled in Lahore and declared himself so-called president of the union. He is having close links with officers of who are sending the salary to him from the Chitral office.
Altaf Hussain, former head clerk of the C&W Department, said some road workers were grazing their goats in the forests and getting salaries from the department. He said a culvert at Singor remained blocked but the C&W official kept using the water to irrigate his land.
Rahmat Karim, vice chairman of Village Council Singor, said that in the case, the XEN was responsible. He said first the department constructed the culvert wrongly due to which water started choking there and secondly, the department gave a free hand to its worker who never performed his duty. As a result, water was flowing on the main road and in winter season it became more dangerous due to freezing, he said.
Faisal Elahi, Samiuddin, Professor Muhammad Dost and other residents complained that they had been facing problems due to the accumulation of water on the road. When contacted, XEN Maqbool Azam denied the allegations and told this scribe on phone from Peshawar that he would take strict action against the absent staff.