HARIPUR: The residents of different villagers situated on Haripur Bypass staged a protest here the other day against the fencing of the road.

The protesting residents of the villages including Mankraey, Mohra Mahmdooh, Pharhala, Qazian, Abdul Pur, Dhenda, Chohar and Malikyar gathered outside the site office of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority.

They were carrying placards inscribed with their demands. They chanted slogans against the fencing of the road. They said that they had sacrificed their precious lands for the project to connect the area with other cities for transporting their agricultural produce to the market.

They said that authorities started fencing the road that would not only divide the population but would also affect their farming activities as the landowners and investors had lands on both sides of the road. They said that no bypass road in the country was fenced as it was not motorway.

The protesters demanded of the government to reverse the decision otherwise they would be left with no option but to launch a series of protests.

The officials, when contacted, said that fencing of the road was a part of the project as it was constructed on the pattern of a motorway and vehicle would move fast. They added that the lives of pedestrians and motorists would be at risk if the road was not fenced.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2021