KOHAT: The tribesmen of Chapri Waziran area of Thall tehsil of Hangu district have denounced the issuance of notices, asking them to demolish newly-constructed houses and stop further constructions.

The concern was expressed at a jirga of elders representing 600 households of Chapri Waziran on Sunday.

The participants, including former nazim Haji Pyao Khan, Malik Shireen, Taj Wazir and others, asked the government to review its decision of snatching shelter from poor people. They said the residents of Chapri Waziran had long been demanding ownership rights of the land which was their legal right.

“We totally reject the ban on construction of houses. We also appeal to the MNA and MPAs from Hangu to intervene and stop the government from implementing the oppressive decision. We warn that if the decision is not taken back we will be forced to stage sit-ins in front of the Chief Minister House and Parliament House in Islamabad,” said the former nazim.

The elders said that the barren and secluded area was of no use for the government as it was a mountain having borders with North Waziristan.

They also demanded provision of clean drinking water and other facilities for more than 6,000 residents of the area.

Assistant commissioner, Thall, Rasheed Ali, when contacted, told Dawn that most of the Chapri Waziran area was a state property and the people had been warned not to construct fresh houses and demolish those established recently.

To a question that where the residents should go, he said so far no policy had been made to resolve that issue. He said 76 per cent of Hangu and 50 per cent of Juzara was state land.

He said the residents would not be evicted from the houses but no further construction would be allowed.

He said the administration could not be blackmailed through such politically-motivated jirgas and protests.

MINER KILLED: A miner was killed and his brother injured in a blast inside a coalmine in Akkhorwal area of Darra Adamkhel.

The miners, Bakht Bedar and Naseem, were fitting dynamite for explosion when it blew up suddenly and the fire engulfed the whole mine.

They were pulled alive by the coworkers. However, Bakht Bedar died after sometime. Both of them were shifted to hospital. The fire brigade doused the blaze.

The body was dispatched to the native Buner district.

The police registered the case and launched further investigations.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2019