By DND News Agency
Kaghan Valley, Pakistan: The tourism-dependent economies of Kaghan Valley suffered severe disruption during the Eid holidays due to road closures, landslides, massive traffic jams, and what many tourists and local stakeholders described as administrative failure by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government and relevant authorities.
Tourism and horticulture remain the backbone of the local economy in these mountainous regions, and the Eid holidays traditionally serve as one of the most profitable periods of the year. Thousands of domestic tourists travel to northern Pakistan during this season, with the majority using the Balakot–Kaghan–Naran–Babusar Pass–Chilas route, while comparatively fewer travelers use the Karakoram Highway (KKH) to reach Gilgit.
However, during the recent Eid holidays, both major routes experienced severe disruptions due to landslides, road blockages, poor traffic management, and the absence of traffic police at critical bottleneck points.
According to local correspondents of DND News Agency, the worst traffic congestion was witnessed on the Balakot–Babusar Pass Road, where thousands of tourists, including families with children, remained stranded for several hours. Many travelers reportedly reached the Lulusar Lake area before learning that the KP government had already closed the Babusar Pass.
The Babusar Pass and the Karakoram Highway have recently faced repeated traffic blockades due to floods, landslides, and unstable weather conditions. Officials had suspended traffic on the Babusar Top road for three days to clear debris caused by flash floods. Although the pass was later reopened, road conditions continued to remain volatile following a cloudburst that triggered landslides and flooding in several areas.
Authorities confirmed that the Naran-to-Babusar Top road was again closed after a major landslide blocked sections of the route. Clearance operations are reportedly underway, but traffic restoration remains difficult because heavy machinery is required to remove debris and stabilize vulnerable slopes.
Tourists and local residents criticized the Kaghan Development Authority (KDA) for failing to provide timely information regarding road conditions. They also accused the authority of not deploying sufficient machinery to clear roads, leaving most of the responsibility to the National Highway Authority (NHA), which, according to local complaints, responded inadequately.
“It was a total mess. I have been stuck in traffic for the last 10 hours with my family inside the car. Either the KP government is deliberately ignoring tourism, or this reflects sheer administrative failure,” said Muhammad Ali, a tourist from Islamabad, while speaking to DND News Agency.
He added that although local residents tried to help stranded tourists, poor driving discipline worsened the situation.
“Drivers created multiple lanes on narrow roads, causing further obstacles to traffic flow, while there was virtually no traffic police presence to manage the situation,” he said.
Hotel owners in Naran also expressed frustration over what they described as the provincial government’s neglect of tourism infrastructure in Kaghan Valley since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came to power in the province.
Some local business owners alleged that the provincial leadership has focused more on promoting tourism in Kumrat, Dir, and Swat — areas politically associated with influential PTI leaders — while neglecting Kaghan Valley. They claimed this policy has negatively affected tourism-related businesses in Naran and surrounding areas.
Muhammad Aslam, a jeep driver operating on the Lalazar and Lake Saif-ul-Malook routes and a graduate of Peshawar University, said that poor coordination among the National Highway Authority, Kaghan Development Authority, and Hazara Traffic Police had repeatedly damaged the tourism economy during Eid holidays.
“The authorities ruin our business almost every Eid season,” he said. “Last year, the Mansehra–Naran route also suffered because the Mahandri bridge remained non-operational throughout the Eid holidays.”
Shar Ali claimed that Hazara Division, which generates more than 150 billion rupees in provincial tourism income, has been neglected for the last 10 years. He said tourism traffic has been discouraged due to constant road blockages, delays in removing landslide debris, and poor traffic management. According to him, the tourism business in the region has now shrunk to nearly 50 billion rupees annually.
Shar Ali further claimed that the federal government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is equally responsible because the National Highway Authority (NHA) falls under the federal government. He alleged that the NHA has performed extremely poorly over the last two years and that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has failed to take action regarding its performance.
Local stakeholders are now demanding better coordination among provincial authorities, improved disaster response systems, proper deployment of traffic police, and timely dissemination of travel advisories to avoid similar crises during future tourist seasons.
