DERA GHAZI KHAN: Thousands of tourists and travellers got stuck in Fort Munro after a landslide blocked the inter-provincial highway connecting Punjab with Balochistan on Sunday.
The landslide occurred on Quetta Road at Neeli Matti in Dera Ghazi Khan’s tribal area of Rakhi Gaaj on the night between Saturday and Sunday.
The blocked road caused immense trouble not only for the travellers and drivers but also for the patients who were travelling for medical treatment at the hospitals in other provinces.
Hundreds of the travellers got stuck in Fort Munro while the supply of fruits, vegetables and other food items remained suspended, it reported.
A large number of travellers and tourists going to Fort Munro to witness snowfall have been caught up in the situation without any food and water in the freezing cold, triggering fears of suspension of the supply of fruits and vegetables from Balochistan to Punjab from Monday.
The blockade had made miles-long lines of heavy and light traffic on both sides of the highway.
Hotels in Fort Munro have also been facing the threat of closure due to the suspension of supplies, and the local people have been providing food items to the tourists and travellers stranded in the area
Drivers expressed their resentment on the wastage of fruits and vegetables worth millions of rupees due to road blockage and no access to the markets.
Personnel of border military police have been called in to clear the road for traffic.
The work was in progress to remove rubble on the national highway connecting Punjab and Balochistan near Fort Munro by heavy machinery to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.