Kalash valleys Road remained closed for the second Day against Cutting of forest

The road to the Kalash valleys of Bumburate and Rumbur remained closed for the second day on Sunday at Ayun town as the people of Thoriandeh and
Muldeh villages have blocked the road as a protest against the cutting of forest adjacent to the Rumbur valley by the forest development corporation (FDC).

An official of Ayun police station said  that after the decision of case about the ownership of the forest near the Rumbur valley in a court of law in favour of its
residents, the contractor of FDC started its cutting.

He said that the residents of the villages of Thoriandeh and Muldeh of Ayun, consisting of about three hundred households, blocked the road to get the harvesting
of forest stopped on Saturday which they are continuing.

The protesters also hold hostage four residents of Rumbur valley who were released on Sunday.

All the efforts of the local elites to bring to bring about negotiation between the rivals of Kalash valley and Ayun village ended in failure as the protesters are
demanding forthwith stoppage of the commercial harvesting of the forest and are determined to continue the blockade of road till the withdrawal of the wood cutters of the FDC contractor from the forest.

It is pertinent to note that the residents of Rumbur will enjoy royalty from the FDC in lieu of the harvesting of the forest that is why they are favouring the process
of harvesting.

When Chitral DCO Rahmatullah Wazir was contacted to know his version about the situation of the road blockade, he said that no one is above the law and no one will
be allowed to challenge the writ of government.

He said that it the decision of the court regarding the ownership of the forest will be implemented in any case and the defiant elements would be dealt with severe
hands.

The forest in Chitral is depleting. If this pace continues for a few years, Chitral will be converted into barren land and floods will create havoc with the people
of the area. There will also be tremendous loss of property.

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Posted by Sonia Bashir on Oct 30 2011. Filed under National. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry