MANSEHRA: Traders on Friday complained about the transportation of granite via the Oghi-Mansehra Road and warned that if the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority didn’t check the activity, then they would take to the streets against it.

“Overloaded [granite] trucks are destroying the main artery, which links Torghar district and our Oghi and Darband tehsils with the Karakoram Highway and Hazara Expressway,” trader leader Mian Saidur Rehman in Oghi told reporters.

Accompanied by a group of traders, Mr Rehman said under traffic rules, six-wheeler and 10-wheeler trucks could transport 17 and 27 tons of goods on a road, respectively, but trucks plying the Oghi-Mansehra Road carried granite weighing almost two times more than that limit, destroying the region’s major artery.

He also said large granite rocks fell off the trucks, damaging the road and threatening the lives of motorists and commuters.

The trader leader said huge sums of funds were recently spent on the blacktopping of the road, but the overloaded trucks badly damaged it, much to the misery of motorists and commuters.

He said patients struggled to reach health centres due to the bad condition of the road.

“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority should immediately stop overloaded trucks from plying the road otherwise we’ll stage street protests,” he said.

Mr Rehman also demanded immediate repairs to the artery.

ACTION AGAINST ENCROACHMENTS: The tehsil municipal administration on Friday began a crackdown on encroachments in the Oghi area and its suburbs here.

It removed several illegal structures and dozens of pushcarts and fined some traders and pushcart owners.

Tehsil officer (revenue) Mohammad Umar told reporters that three encroachers were arrested for resisting the crackdown.

He said tehsil municipal officer Amir Shahzad ordered the anti-encroachment drive after receiving people’s complaints. Mr Umar said encroachments hampered the smooth movement of vehicles and pedestrians on the roads.

He said the TMA had asked encroachers to mend their ways to prevent strict action.

The official said the anti-encroachment drive would last until Eidul Fitr, as markets were expected to see an influx of shoppers ahead of the post-Ramazan festival.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2024