Owners cry foul as NHA bulldozes 15 shops, signboards on Karakoram Highway

Anti-encroachment drive meant to widen KKH to its actual size

ABBOTTABAD: National Highway Authority with the support of district administration bulldozed at least 15 shops and cabins and removed hoardings and signboards during an anti-encroachment drive on main Karakoram Highway (KKH) from Muslimabad to Salhad.

The drive was meant to widen the KKH to its actual size, making way for tourist traffic and also to facilitate movement of the equipment and heavy machinery for CPEC projects.

However the owners of the demolished shops at Muslimabad, Naveed Khan and Tahir Khan, put up resistance. They alleged that they were not served notice by either NHA or the district administration and claimed that their shops were at least 20 feet away from main road and were being constructed on their private property. They claimed that they have been victimised.

The Hazara Hoarding and Billboard Association officials who also dashed to the site said that are regularly paying taxes to the district council, cantonment board, TMA and also to NHA and case is also being filed in the Peshawar High Court for the setting of jurisdictions of the authorities as in most of the cases, they have been asked to pay double tax by two different departments and high court has summoned the all authorities to properly demarcate their areas before charging taxes.

They said that they will move the court for contempt as all the authorities, the NHA, district administration are included as party and they were shown the court orders but the district administration and NHA reuse to honour the court proceedings.

They further alleged that NHA high ups are giving the hoarding and billboards fixing license to a party from Rawalpindi who has been awarded contract from Hasan Abdal to upper belt on Hazara road.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2017.