MANSEHRA: The residents of Parhana and adjoining areas have moved the Peshawar High Court’s Circuit Bench in Abbottabad against the relocation of the area’s only girls degree college.

“The college has been functioning in a rented building here for many years but the education department recently ordered its relocation to Shergarh area in Oghi tehsil, so we’ve challenged that unjustified move in the court of law,” general secretary of the district bar association Fahad Habib told reporters here on Tuesday.

Former tehsil nazim Bashiruddin Tanoli and a group of people from Parhana and adjoining areas were also present on the occasion.

Mr Habib said the college was approved by former provincial minister Habibur Rehman Tanoli before the government ordered land acquisition for it.

“This government not only ordered the college’s relocation but it also stopped the land’s acquisition. All this is unacceptable to us,” he said.

Ex-minister offers land for college building

Mr Tanoli said the petition had sought the court’s orders to strike down the government’s notification for the college’s relocation, which had threatened the future of over 200 students.

Meanwhile, former minister Habib Tanoli also filed a petition with the court saying he’s ready to provide land for the college’s building Parhana area free of charge.

INAUGURATED: Parliamentary secretary for energy and water resources MNA Salah Mohammad Khan on Tuesday inaugurated the Rs1.5 billion work on the Battakundia Bridge and Naran-Jalkhad section of Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road.

“The completion of both bridge and road projects will significantly reduce the travel time between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan to the benefit of both commuters and tourists,” Mr Salah told the inaugural ceremony in Naran area.

The Battakundia Bridge, which links Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit-Baltistan, was washed away by flash floods four years ago to the misery of motorists crossing the Kunhar River.

“The federal government has sanctioned these huge funds to promote tourism in Kaghan valley and other areas,” the MNA said.

He said the government had also approved the construction of roads in Siren and Kaghan valleys to promote tourism, while Rs2 billion would be spent on the carpeting of roads and provision of facilities.

The parliamentary secretary said the government was considering making the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road up to Babusar Top an all-weather artery and if that happened, the province would witness an economic revolution.

He said if the road remained open to traffic all through the year, not only would the heavenly valley attract tourists even during snowfall but Khyber Pakhtunkhwa -Gilgit-Baltistan traffic would also not halt.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2019