KARAK: Residents of 35 localities of Banda Daud Shah tehsil on Sunday took to the streets against delay in start of reconstruction of Banda-Gurguri road and resolved to besiege offices of the communication and works department if tender in this regard was not issued within five days.

The demand was made by elders of 36 localities of Banda Daud Shah tehsil, who were led by Khattak Ittehad tehsil president Maulvi Mohammad Sharif. They marched to the broken Banda-Gurguri road to record their protest.

They held a protest demonstration on the roadside where the speakers accused the local officials of C&W department of deliberately delaying the project. The elders also criticised MNA Shahid Khattak for not taking interest in reconstruction of the road.

They said that the foreign oil and gas company MOL had released Rs400 million and the provincial government Rs170 million for the road project and as such there was no reason for delaying it.

The residents said that the local people were facing numerous problems due to the bad road and they could not wait anymore for start of the reconstruction work.

The speakers claimed that their area was fulfilling 57 per cent need of oil and gas of the country, but its dwellers were deprived of road, health and education facilities.

They demanded of the deputy commissioner to ask the relevant officials to issue tender for the project and set five days deadline for this.

CONDEMNED: Traders here have condemned the firing incident in Takht-i-Nusrati bazaar in which two persons were killed. They demanded the police to take steps for stopping such incidents in the main bazaar.

The traders, including Kashif Nawaz, Sardar Jan and Khan Shireen, told mediapersons here on Sunday that on the one side their businesses were affected by Covid-19 emergency, on the other there was a law and order problem in Takht-i-Nusrati bazaar.

They demanded of the district police officer to ensure security to the traders and people visiting the bazaars.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2020