RAWALPINDI: The restive Swat Valley is under a relentless curfew, which is subjecting the people to untold miseries.

Ever since the curfew was clamped in the valley on Tuesday last, people moving in and outside the district are forced to remain on the road during the holy month of Ramazan. The security forces are said to have engaged the Maulana Fazlullah-led Taliban in Koza Bandai on the main Airport Road that has claimed scores of lives. Those hurt in collateral damage die of their wounds, as they cannot not be removed to hospitals due to curfew.

People going abroad are also forced to stay home resulting in expiry of their precious visas. Unlike the past when people were allowed to travel downward with intervals, this time nobody was allowed to travel on road for four days. In the wake of these stringent security measures, the injured and ill have been left at the mercy of God.

The district is also facing severe shortage of essential food items and medicines as the two main roads i.e. Mingora-Kalam and Airport remain closed for all kinds of traffic. Peach and apple are nowadays the main produce of the valley besides other fruits. However, the same are decaying in orchards and on roads due to the curfew. In the past, fruit trucks were allowed to travel to Mingora from Khwazakhela but this time there is no relief for farmers, forcing them to suffer millions of rupees losses.

A number of bridges on the two roads were blown up by miscreants recently, leaving the farmers in quandary. They have now been using pick-ups to market their produce instead of trucks. At places where bridges have been blown up, they unload the fruits and carry them on shoulders through different drains and nullahs for reloading in pick-ups.

Abdul Hameed informed The News on phone that he had transported two truckloads of peach and apple to Khwazakhela on Tuesday, which were still lying on the road. He said that he had stopped further transportation of fruit from orchards. Incessant rains are further adding to the miseries of farmers who could not market their produce.

Another villager Jamaluddin informed this scribe that he obtained Umrah visa after incessant efforts. But when it was okayed, he was not able to reach Islamabad to pay for the ticket and complete other formalities.

People have appealed to relevant authorities to allow the injured to travel to the district headquarters for treatment and those whose visas are expiring to proceed abroad. They have also urged the government to allow transportation of essential food supplies into the district and fruits down country to give some respite to farmers. The Mingora-Kalam Road, where no major activity has been noted recently, could be used for transportation of these commodities in the form of convoys as was being done in the past.