Pirzada Sayeed
KARNAH // People in Karnah once again came out on streets demanding construction of the proposed tunnel at Sadhana Top and demanded the central government to give the green flag for its approval considering the plight of the people of the area. They were promised. Karnah Kupwara highway has been closed for vehicular traffic for the last 6 days and the dead bodies of three people belonging to Karnah have been lying at Handwara for the last 5 days and the administration is waiting for clear weather to bring them to Karnah for their burial. The protest is to remind the central government of their promise.On Saturday, the Tunnel Coordination Committee Under the banner, local people staged protest in Karnah. The protest was attended by members of Tunnel Coordination Committee, Civil Society Karnah, Beopar Mandal Karna, Panchayat members, political leaders, transport union members and locals. The protestors reached Tangdhar through different routes of Karnah and raised slogans ‘fulfill our demands’, ‘justice with us’. The protestors said that the construction of a tunnel on the Sadhana Pass will make all weather connectivity, it is a long standing demand of the border population of Karnah, but even after decades, this demand is not being fulfilled due to which the population of Karnah face many difficulties. The local people said that all the governments that remained in power urged the central government to build a tunnel on this pass, while a delegation of many political leaders also went to Delhi and met with several ministers of the central government. informed them about this long standing demand, But no attention was paid to it, Asif Mir general secretary of the Tunnel Coordination Committee leaded the protest, said that last year Union Transport Minister Mr Nitin Katgri had announced during his visit to Kashmir that construction of a tunnel to facilitate the movement of people on the top is going to be started and a DPR in this regard will be prepared in March 2022, but even after a year, no attention has been paid to it. Abdul Rasheed Qureshi, president of Karnah Cultural Club, said that Karnah Kupwara highway has been closed for the past one week. The concerns of the people have increased and three dead bodies have been lying at Handwara for the last three days, closed highway also causes problems for the patients of the area as well as the students, While those who die in Srinagar, it takes several days to reach for the last rights at their hometown. People said they don’t want to be on the streets, but these hardships force us to come on streets with our demands. The protestors praised the work of the administration, which in the past few days started a rescue operation to bring the dead bodies of four people to Karnah on foot, which could have been dangerous not only for the administration but also for the common people. A complete alternative solution should be found which can only be possible by constructing a tunnel at Sadhana Pass because without it the problems of the people will never end. Finally the local people submitted a memorandum to the administration by which the administration is informed about the problems of the people of the area due to the non construction of the tunnel.
