The residents of the Kulgad area in Achabal on Friday staged a protest against the “unjust” road widening in their area.
In 2007, the cabinet of the former Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad approved the expansion of the vital road that connects Anantnag town to the Kishtwar. Approval was granted for the widening to be made for which the concerned officials marked 50ft from one side of the erstwhile road and 50ft from the other.
The Locals alleged that after 2013, the Additional Deputy Commissioner Nisar Ahmad Wani and ACR Ghulam Ahmad Dar forced us to curve on every mark. The officials told the locals that the roads would be widened from a single side at the curves. “From Kishtwar to Anantnag its about 100 km of distance and there are many blind curves, but not a single curve was expanded single-sided. Only here in Kulgad, the curve was widened to over 100ft but only from a single side, as one KAS officer lives on the other,” they said.
“We will lose our paddy fields from which we have been feeding our families. We do not have any alternate source of revenue,” Mohammed Ashraf Dar told The Kashmiriyat. He said that the land in the area costs millions of rupees and he along with several others who are losing their land has not received any compensation from the Government.
Between the paddy field that will be lost to the road widening project is a small cement factory where ten-twelve people earn their livelihood. The factory land will also be added to the road.
The residents alleged that the said officer used illegal power to save his house. “Even Naib Tehsildar, Patwari visited the area and said injustice was done to the residents. We asked them to write a report and submit the same to the administration, But they refused to issue an order or write any notice because they are afraid of higher officials,” they said.
Sometimes Low-rank officers visit and threaten us by saying, that they will take us to the court, and the residents will be jailed, they alleged.
“We are poor and helpless people and We do not know what to do,” they said.
They appealed to LG even we have given notice to DC, we want justice. “Our only motive behind the protest is that there should be proper investigation and justice should prevail,” the residents said.