Daily Times

UPPER DIR: Land owners of union council Qulandi in Upper Dir on Tuesday held a protest march and demonstration against fixation of new price rate of Rs 200,000 per kanal for their land, which come into construction and widening of road from Lowari tunnel to Qulandi.

The construction and widening of the road is part of the worth Rs 27 billion under construction Lowari tunnel project and work on it is being started soon.

A few months back National Highway Authority’s officials in a briefing said to the parliamentary committee for communication in the National Assembly, in Lowari tunnel that approach roads from both the north and the south sides of the tunnel were being constructed soon. For which, they said, negotiation with land owners was under process for acquiring land which would be finalized soon. Then work on approach roads would be stated immediately after finalizing agreement.

The Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also directed during his visit to the tunnel two month back to the NHA authorities and SAMBO to complete the tunnel by March 2017. The NHA authorities had also given him surety of completion the under construction Lowari tunnel project by March 2017.

However, sources said that completion of the Lowari tunnel by March 2017 is looking very difficult because lots of work still remains in the tunnel. It would become more difficult to complete the project by given time if issues like that create in the Lowari tunnel project.

Hundreds of protesters led by former MPA, Muhammad Anwar Khan, opposition leader in the Dir tehsil council, Nisar Khan Warda and Muhammad Rashid Advocate marched on foot from Qulandi to Dir. The protesters then blocked the main Dir-Chitral road to traffic and organized a protest demonstration in front of deputy commissioner’s office.

Addressing to demonstrators Muhammad Anwar Khan, Naveed Khan Shaheen, Nisar Khan Wardag, Muhammad Rashid Advocate, member of district council of Dir Upper, Ghayas-U- Din and others said that the land owners rejected the new price which had been fixed by the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dir Upper.

They said that few years before amount of Rs 450,000 per kanal had been fixed for the said land. However, they said, then the DC had made a new committee for fixation of new rate for the lands and the committee had fixed the new rate which was ridicules. They said that rate for their land should be fixed according to the present market rate in the area. The affected land owners should compensate properly rather than teasing them.

Muhammad Rashid Advocate said that then the forest department was claiming about the ownership of the land situated in Qulandi union council, said that the forest department claim was out of sense and out of law act. Because, he added, forest land in Qulandi union council, Doogdara and Kohistan valley forest land had been declared a public property in the Zulfiqar Ali Bhatto’s government by a commission the then time.

Speakers said that land owners rejected the new rate and demanded of an independent committee to fix fresh and right rate according to the market rate otherwise they would never pursue on giving their land for construction and widening of the road.