MANSEHRA: On Sunday morning, many landslides prevented traffic from using the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road, trapping hundreds of drivers and passengers in the Ghanool neighborhood of Balakot.
Businessman Ali Asghar told reporters on the location, “I was on my way to Kaghan valley from Mansehra but heavy landslides blocked the main artery to all sorts of traffic, causing long queues of vehicles on both sides of the road.”
The MNJ route was closed to traffic in the morning due to landslides, and it wasn’t cleared until the evening.
“Long lines of cars kept hundreds of passengers traveling between Balakot and the lower Kaghan valley stuck all day,” Mr. Asghar stated.
According to him, a large chunk of soil that had broken free from a mountain landed across the route, obstructing traffic. According to him, large rocks would have to be broken apart by blasting, Asghar remarked.
The National Highway Authority and the Kaghan Development Authority, according to another stranded traveler, were unable to start work to clear landslides from the route that connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.
“The Chinese engineers working on the Suki Kanari hydropower project in the Kaghan Valley’s Paras area also hurried to the location. But large equipment needed to remove landslides hadn’t yet arrived at the location, he added.
This year, hoteliers and other businesses in Naran and the upper Kaghan valley were unable to reopen for business due to the National Highway Authority’s delay in reopening the MNJ Road, despite directives from Zahid Chanzeb, the CM’s adviser on tourism.
