Daily Times

The district administrations have closed dozens of local chair lifts in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Bataghram chairlift accident. The local chairlifts were being run in Swat, Shangla, Buner, Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Chitral, Haripur, Abbottabad and Mansehra districts. Hundreds of buckets are operated with cable wires or ropes to access other areas in Bataghram, Kohistan Upper, Lower, and Koli Palis. The Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to inspect local chairlifts/dollies in all districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There were also reports from all the districts wherein people were using chairlifts, caused problem due to closures with many areas also complaining that they are facing food shortages. Local dollies are used to access other villages, schools, markets in mountainous areas and mostly children are unable to go to school due to lift closure. The people of the areas have demanded for immediate rehabilitation from the administration and provided them alternatives instead of closing all such facilities, locally prepared.