Affluence of Tourists in Naran Calls For Need of Infrastructure

The affluence of tourists in the north of Pakistan has taken the form of a fission reaction but poor infrastructure and lack of facilities and planning turned a pleasant journey into a nightmare.

The Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road leading to Kaghan Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) got choked as thousands of tourists from different parts of the country streamed into the picturesque location on Sunday too.

Similar scenes were witnessed during Eid-ul-Azha as people thronged the valley to enjoy their holidays.

The Kaghan valley witnessed horrific scenes of gridlocks and vehicles ran out of fuel as people remained stuck for hours.

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The administration was in dock from the scene which transformed the journey into a nightmare.

The local police said some 700,000 vehicles entered Kaghan Valley until Sunday since the first day of Eid-ul-Azha.

Some tourists who have visited the place during the season advised others to avoid going to Kaghan Valley.

A Twitter user Amna Khan shared it took them 12 hours to travel from Naran to Kaghan, which usually takes around 3 hours.

If you’re thinking of going to the Northern areas, please DON’T. There is a traffic emergency- it took us 12 hours to travel from Naraan to Kaghan. People parking theirs cars and sleeping in them.

— Amna Khan (@amnaukhan) July 23, 2021

The tourists have demanded the government to extend facilities at recreational spots and elevate infrastructure to cope up with such huge influx.

They said lack of facilities would become a hindrance to the prime minister’s vision of promoting tourism if the issues aren’t adressed at the earliest.

Some social media users also questioned the covid-19 threat such large crowds could pose.

They said that the government should devise a mechanism to ensure checking of vaccination certificates of the visitors as directed by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC).