MINGORA: Residents of Shahi Abad village on Friday demanded of the provincial government to order the Saidu Sharif Airport officials to reopen a path that links their village to the main Kanju road.

Holding posters and banners they gathered at the Kanju Chowk to stage protest against the airport officials. They said the route which connected their village with the main road was closed by the officials of Saidu Sharif Airport due to which the villagers faced problems in reaching other parts.

A stream that runs from our village to the airport and which connects it with the main Kanju village has been used by the villagers for decades, but the airport officials closed the path by constructing a wall across it, the protesters said.

The villagers said after the route was closed the villagers faced difficulties because they had to cover about five kilometres to reach Kanju. They said the airport officials had no right to close their way as it was illegal to construct wall in a stream.

Our children go to schools in the main Kanju town but with the closure of the stream path they always get late to reach their schools because they have to walk five kilometres extra distance, the villagers lamented.

They said majority of the residents were poor and had to go to Kanju and other areas for work, adding they had to take their patients to Mingora because there was no hospital or dispensary in their village, but closure of the path had stressed them out.

They said federal minister Murad Saeed and local MPA were well aware of their problem, but did nothing practically. They demanded of the chief minister to order the airport officials to immediately reopen the path to their village.

When contacted, an official at Saidu Sharif Airport said it was property of the Civil Aviation Authority and was not a legal route. He said that the villagers had filed a case with the civil judge which was also decided in favour of CAA.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2019