Talking to this correspondent, Noor Rehman Gujjar said the local administration imposed Section 144 disallowing him from grazing his goats in the nearby area. He said since a week his goats have not been taken out of the pen and were about die from starvation. He said the DC imposed the ban on the application of a group who had moved the court against grazing of goats in the village pastures contending that the animals denuded the mountains of vegetation cover and hence causing floods. The Gujjar man claimed that the courts had given verdicts in his favour but the case was now before the senior member Board of Revenue. When contacted, Assistant Commissioner Abdul Akram said the Section 144 had been imposed in order to avoid any clash between the groups. He said in most parts of Chitral the local communities had voluntarily abandoned keeping goats ad these damaged the vegetation cover in the mountains triggering floods after rainfall. GH Farooqui ]]>
Aayeeo phar laki Gujuro mare re asuni qadeemo jam roi. The goats should once and for all be banished from our land to save the area from the devastations of the flash floods. I welcome the decision of DC Chitral and request him to extend it for another 60 days on its expiry.
Oh, no, no! The ban must be made more strict and extended to all over the district. Goats are one reason for soil erosion resulting in flash floods. Ayub Khan banned them half a century ago. Why allow them to devastate our mountains now. Haven’t we had enough of it?. The Gujars and sheep keepers should be compensated with alternate facilities, like loan for cattle/sheep rearing or poultry keeping, but never never goat keeping.