Two-hourly sit-in begins against non-construction of roads

MASTUJ: People of Mastuj, Laspur and Yarkhun on Monday blocked the Shandur road by staging a sit-in at Mastuj bridge as the deadline they had set for the government to make progress on construction of roads to their areas ended.

A large number of people earlier gathered in the Mastuj bazaar from where they moved to the Mastuj bridge in the form of a procession and staged a sit-in there for two hours.

Talking to ChitralToday correspondent, the protesters said the sit-in would continue for two hours every day till a responsible representative of the federal or the provincial government gives them in writing that work on the construction of Booni-Mastuj, Shandur and Yarkhun roads would be initiated within a specific time frame.

They said women and children would also join the sit-in after a few days.

They said if their demand was not met, they would not let anyone to go to Shandur to participate in the annual polo festival starting from July 7 and completely closed the road.

They also called upon the people of Gilgit-Baltistan to boycott the annual festival in solidarity with the people of Upper Chitral.

On June 20, the people of the area had given the deadline of June 24 to the government to give them a specific time frame in writing that work on the roads would be started. However, so far the government has not come up with any assurance.

Also read: Rs1 billion set aside for Shandur road in 2019-20 budget

 

Reporting: Karim Ullah