MUZAFFARABAD: Residents of Leepa valley have threatened that they would launch a protest against governments in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad for ignoring several problems of their area, mainly the construction of a tunnel.

The warning came through Shaukat Javed Mir, a regional office bearer of opposition People’s Party (PPP) and a key figure in an alliance of Leepa valley based leaders of different parties.

“Leepa valley is not only a strategically important area as it runs along the Line of Control but is also one of the best tourist attractions of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). But ironically every government has been callously ignoring the plight of its people,” he said on Sunday while speaking on behalf of the alliance.

He said the major demand of the Valley people was construction of a tunnel to provide them round the year access to the rest of the state.

“Come winters, a population of 80,000 people lands in hot waters because huge snowfalls block all three ground routes leading to their valley from Reshian,” he said.

Leepa valley is located some 100km southeast of state capital Muzaffarabad and 25km ahead of Reshian, from where it is accessed by two vehicular and one pedestrian tracks running through an altitude of around 10,000 feet. Winter snowfalls and glaciers block movement through these routes which is why residents of the area have long been demanding construction of a tunnel from Reshian.

Mr Mir recalled that as chief minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif had pledged in an election campaign related rally in Leepa in 2011 that his party when voted to power in the centre would construct Leepa tunnel.

“Now that he has become the prime minister of Pakistan it should not be difficult for him to fulfill his commitment which will facilitate the residents of the valley on the one hand and strengthen its defence on the other,” Mr Mir said.

In this regard, he claimed that the PPP led central government [2008-13] had conducted the feasibility study of Leepa tunnel at a cost of Rs350 million while the PML-N government of Nawaz Sharif had approved a Rs12 billion scheme for its construction.

“Unfortunately, the project was shelved later due to some unknown reasons to our shock and dismay,” he said.

The PPP leader also urged his party’s chairperson and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and AJK Premier Sardar Tanveer Ilyas to play their role in this regard.

He maintained that people of his area had patiently waited for construction of the tunnel for years together “but now they were at the end of their tether”.

“Leepa tunnel is one-point agenda for the survival of our future generations and we can go to any extent for its implementation, including a long march to Islamabad, hunger strike unto death,” he warned.

“But we are hopeful that steps will be taken to meet our bona-fide requirement before pushing us to agitational movement.”

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2022