MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) president Sardar Masood Khan on Monday said he would request the federal government for construction of a tunnel to keep the strategically important Leepa Valley connected with the rest of the liberated territory round the year.

He gave this assurance to a 5-member delegation of political and social activists from Leepa Valley which called on him almost a week after the PTI led central government dropped, altogether, seven projects for AJK from the federal Public Sector Development Project (PSDP) including Leepa tunnel.

The delegation was led by Shaukat Javed Mir, a renowned PPP leader.

“Leepa valley is a strategically and economically important area of Azad Kashmir and we cannot leave its residents at the mercy of the fate,” the president told the delegation.

Home to some 80,000 people, the picturesque valley, located some 100kms southeast of Muzaffarabad is famous for its paddy fields, apple orchards, red beans and walnuts.

Seven projects for AJK were dropped from the PSDP last week

The heavily militarized Line of Control can be seen from anywhere while standing in the valley from east to west.

From beyond Reshian village, the valley is accessed by two dangerously narrow roads and one pedestrian track that run through an altitude of around 10,000 feet.

However, as heavy winter snowfalls block all three routes, valley people have to wend their way through the snow-capped corridors at the peril of their lives and consequently many lives are lost.

It is therefore the valley people have long been demanding construction of the tunnel.

During an election rally in the area in June 2011, the then Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced construction of the tunnel and the announcement was owned by his elder sibling Nawaz Sharif after coming to power in centre in 2013.

The Executive Board of National Highway Authority had cleared the PC-1 for construction of 3.79 km tunnel with realignment of access road for approval of the competent forum in its 239th meeting held in Islamabad in Sept 2014.

The project worth Rs7.3 billion was cleared by the Cabinet Development Working Party and according to the two-year performance report (2013-15) of the ministry of Kashmir affairs, Rs50 million were earmarked for it in the federal public sector development programme (PSDP) for 2014-15.

However, the project could not make any headway in the following years.

In its last budget for 2018-19, the PML-N government once again earmarked Rs500 million in the federal PSDP for Leepa tunnel with a total estimated cost of Rs6 billion.

“I earnestly wish that this longstanding and logical demand of LeepaValley people must be fulfilled. This sanctioned project should not only be revived but funds should also be released at the earliest for commencement of construction process,” Mr Khan said.

The delegation also urged the president to use his good offices for establishment of a 50-bed health facility and appointment of a gynaecologist to provision of primary healthcare facilities at their doorstep.

They also demanded that the 25pc of the income from sale of timber extracted from LeepaValley should be spent on the welfare of the local population.

The president assured that he would convey these demands to the departments concerned.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2018