Residents of this town in Fata construct road on their own

GHALANAI: Abandoned by elected representatives, local residents of the underprivileged areas of Shaheed Banda of Pindiali tehsil have constructed more than four kilometers of shingle road on self-help basis with the help of volunteers. 

Gul Zada, who is volunteer with Pakistan Red Crescent Mohmand Agency branch, said he along with other volunteers and residents constructed the shingle road from Ahmadi Kor to Sarhad Korona where Matta Mughal khel road starts.

Zada told this correspondent that they hired an excavator on Rs2500 per hour, which worked for seven hours on the road. They had approached the local parliamentarians for construction of the road but all in vain, he added.

He said they have also formed welfare organization named Shaheed Banda Youth Welfare Organization (SYWO) for the welfare of local residents.

Ali Man Shah, the president of the organization, said that people were facing difficulties because of dilapidated condition of the road, particularly during rainy season. He said that volunteers collected donations from villagers and started work on the road to resolve the longstanding problem of the area.

He said that Al-Khidmat Foundation donated Rs.10000 to the organization and volunteers also collected funds from other sources.

“We also collected donations from our villagers and hired excavator, 12 tractors and 2 loaders for construction of the shingle road, “said Shah.

He said that about 25 volunteers and eight elders worked for three days and completed the four-kilometer shingle road.

Ali Man Shah said that in 2015 two kilometers of the shingle road was constructed, but it was damaged by floods.

Shaheed Banda is a far-flung and ignored area of Lower Pandiali tehsil of lower Mohmand Sub-Division with low literacy rate.

The residents of the area said that the only primary school for boys in the locality was constructed in 1980 while the primary school for girls was built in 2007. There is no middle and high school in the area due to which most of students couldn’t get higher education.

They said that the nearest high school to Shaheed Banda was at a distance of about 15 kilometers in Matta area. There is also no health facility in the area, which sometimes led to patients die on the way to Peshawar hospitals.

Ali Man Shah said that most of the students in Shaheed Banda were left education after passing primary school examinations as there was no middle and high school in their area.