Lowari Tunnel ( ur, , ''Lowari Sarang'') is a vehicular

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

under the Lowari Pass of the

Hindu Kush mountains The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...

, between Dir and Chitral in

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. It is operated by the

National Highway Authority The National Highway Authority (NHA; ur, ) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Communications (Pakistan), Ministry of Communications (MoCom) of Pakistan. History In 1978, the Government of Pakistan federalised five important inter-prov ...

and carries traffic on the

N-45 National Highway The National Highway 45 (), also known as the N-45 or the Nowshera-Chitral Highway, is one of the National Highways of Pakistan, running from Nowshera District to the town of Chitral via Dir in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is a two-lane ...

, thus bypassing Lowari Pass. Construction was partly completed by June 2017, By late 2018, the tunnel was open to vehicular traffic for at least ten hours per day. The total cost of the tunnel was . The tunnel is one of the longest tunnels in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

, and is the longest in Pakistan, superseding the Khojak Tunnel in 2018.

History

Originally conceived as a railway tunnel, construction began in September 1975 and was inaugurated by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

. However, less than a year later work stopped in 1976 due to non allocation of funds. Construction resumed in September 2005, and the tunnel was initially expected to be completed by 2009; with conversion into a vehicle road tunnel. This is one of the mega highway projects initiated in 2005 during the government of

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

. But work was stopped at times due to a shortage of funds, and at others due to a change in design and security reasons. Work on the new plan started in 2013 when the Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

came to power. He ordered the release of funds and the project was completed in a short time.

Benefit

The tunnel essentially allows traffic on the N45 National Highway to bypass the Lowari Pass and was intended to reduce the 14 hour drive between Chitral and

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

to only 7 hours. The tunnel also facilitates all-weather transportation, as during the long winter season the Lowari Pass is closed, and travelers to and from Chitral used to have to travel into Afghanistan and then back into

to access the rest of the country. The tunnel is facilitating economic development in the

Chitral district Chitral District ( ur, ) was the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, covering an area of 14,850 km², before splitting into Upper Chitral District and Lower Chitral District in 2018. Part of the Malakand Div ...

, as of late 2018.

References

https://www.chitraltoday.net/2020/02/09/lowari-tunnel-a-blessing-for-chitral/ https://www.chitraltoday.net/2017/06/lowari-tunnel-ready-for-opening-at-last/ https://www.chitraltoday.net/2015/01/pm-orders-yearly-increase-of-rs-6-billion-for-lowari-tunnel/

External links

*http://chitraltoday.net/work-on-tunnel-gains-momentum/
Lowari tunnel work in full swingNational Highways Authority: Development Projects
{{Clear Tunnels in Pakistan Chitral District Upper Dir District Road tunnels in Pakistan Tunnels completed in 2017