Hangu-Kohat Road Reopens for Public Transport

After several months of rough travel from Hangu to Kohat/Peshawar and back, through the hilly and mostly unmetalled alternate road of Sumario, the passengers traveling to and from Hangu-Kohat-Peshawar have finally found relief as travel along the regular Hangu-Kohat road has been allowed by the militants operating in Hangu-Orakzai areas.

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The permission to use the regular road came after a group of local transporters went to see representatives of fundamentalist militants in Hangu and complaining about the material and financial loss caused by using the alternate road of Sumario that bypasses Shia-inhabited villages situated along the regular road. The Sumario route is not only ragged and longer but also a bit more expensive to travel and hence the chagrin of passengers who were taken via it for several months. The reason was that Islamic militants in the Orakzai area had dictated, or indirectly threatened, that public transporters using the regular road will be responsible for any damage suffered en route. This forced the transporters into using the alternate route which, unlike the 2-hour travel of the regular route, took over 3 hours to travel between Hangu and Peshawar.

The representatives of the militants heard the transporters’ complaint and, up on consulting their leaders, allowed the use of the regular route. This brought both transporters and passengers a good deal of relief. The travel fair was also decreased from 150 to 130 rupees and the Hiace service between Hangu and Kohat/Peshawar was resumed. However, the overall transport of passengers along the road is still much lower than what it used to be, some months back, the reason being the continual incidents of violence and terrorism.