The leaders of Karoonjhar Sujag Forum have asked the high-ups of the Sindh government to take notice of the unabated extraction of granite despite their continuous protest.
Allah Rakhio Khoso, Zulfikar Ali Khoso, Ghulam Mustafa Dal, Sagir Khaskheli, and other leaders addressing the press conference at the local press club in Nagarparkar town on Sunday deplored the fact massive extraction by number of the greedy contractors, working on various development schemes including the construction of small dams and roads were causing the irreparable damage to the beautiful hills. They said that after the massive protest rally in the hilly town of Nagarparkar on Friday when they visited the site they had found more people engaged in the extraction of the granite with the help of heavy machinery without any let or check by the officials adding they said that it amounted to adding insult to their injuries.
They deplored the fact no stern actions had been taken against those involved in illegal practises for the past many months despite the strict court orders. They said that a mining company Kohinoor , officials of which, claimed to have got fresh lease of the extraction at different points from the high-ups of the Sindh government wayback in 2011 were busy in the illegal act Charinda village of the Parkar regon without any let of check.
They said that despite their protests and reminders to the PPP lawmakers from the area to help them stop the extraction, the several people hired by the private company were doing the massive damage to the sites irrespective of their religious and heritage significance. They alleged that the frequent extraction work being carried out by the contractors very much implied that PPP lawmakers and the high-ups of the Sindh government had allowed them to cause irreparable damage to the hills even at the sacred points such as Carinda and other places of the region. They demanded that the entire region with great cultural, religious and historical sites be declared as a World Heritage Site as was promised by the top PPP leadership from time to time and demanded the installation of chairlift to attract more tourists in the region during monsoon season.
They deplored that it was very unfortunate that lawmakers of the ruling, including MNA Ameer Ali Shah Jilani, Senator Krishna Kumari Kolhi and MPA Qasim Siraj Soomro were least concerned over the massive damage and destruction being caused by miners to the beautiful hills adding they asked the lawmakers to mend their ways by showing their clear stance by meeting with the people, who were were worried of their Karoonjhar hills. They said that they feared that lawmakers and PPP leaders were also indirectly involved in allowing the greedy people to extract the precious granite and gravel.
They said that all the people of the hilly town and Parkar region had decided in principle to widen the scope of their protest if the contractors, who had arrived with heavy machinery a few days back, were not taken to task as per the strict orders of Sindh High Court. They also hailed the decisions of different organisations to kick start the protest movement first in all big and small towns of Thar and and then in other other cities if the practice was not stopped.
