Margalla Hills tunnel: Traders, lawyers support project
Say it will give easy access to the capital and reduce length of journey.
Say it will give easy access to the capital and reduce length of journey.
HARIPUR:
Traders and lawyers on Friday expressed their resolve to protect the proposed Margalla Hills tunnel project, calling it “a life line for the country’s future economic growth”.
Speaking at a press conference, senior lawyer Amjad Zaman Khan said any opposition to the mega project is tantamount to a ‘conspiracy against the people of Hazara’.
The project was conceived by former president General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf to boost trade with neighbouring China via the Karakoram Highway. But some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) opposed the project and said it would be disastrous for the environment after which the government shelved the plan.
The tunnel planned to be constructed from Haripur to Islamabad will cut through the Margalla Hills.
“Now that the current government has started spadework, the same NGOs are once again hindering its construction, claiming the project would harm the environment,” Khan said.
He added they let the government build Tarbela and Khanpur dam at the cost of their land. “Opposing parties must not forget that had we put up resistance, Islamabad’s map would have been very different.” Khan’s own family lost acres of agriculture land and orchards to make way for the construction of the Tarbela dam.
Haripur Bar Association President Advocate Maqbool Hussain said the project was of national importance and the government must not surrender to the pressure of a few organisations. He asked parliamentarians to play their role for the welfare of Hazara.
Apart from trade with China, the Hazara division also sells agricultural produce, handicrafts and industrial goods to Punjab and other cities. “The project will give easy access to the capital and reduce the length of journey,” said Sajjad Ashraf, who is the president of the Haripur Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We also pay our taxes. Better infrastructure is our right too.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2013.
Traders and lawyers on Friday expressed their resolve to protect the proposed Margalla Hills tunnel project, calling it “a life line for the country’s future economic growth”.
Speaking at a press conference, senior lawyer Amjad Zaman Khan said any opposition to the mega project is tantamount to a ‘conspiracy against the people of Hazara’.
The project was conceived by former president General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf to boost trade with neighbouring China via the Karakoram Highway. But some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) opposed the project and said it would be disastrous for the environment after which the government shelved the plan.
The tunnel planned to be constructed from Haripur to Islamabad will cut through the Margalla Hills.
“Now that the current government has started spadework, the same NGOs are once again hindering its construction, claiming the project would harm the environment,” Khan said.
He added they let the government build Tarbela and Khanpur dam at the cost of their land. “Opposing parties must not forget that had we put up resistance, Islamabad’s map would have been very different.” Khan’s own family lost acres of agriculture land and orchards to make way for the construction of the Tarbela dam.
Haripur Bar Association President Advocate Maqbool Hussain said the project was of national importance and the government must not surrender to the pressure of a few organisations. He asked parliamentarians to play their role for the welfare of Hazara.
Apart from trade with China, the Hazara division also sells agricultural produce, handicrafts and industrial goods to Punjab and other cities. “The project will give easy access to the capital and reduce the length of journey,” said Sajjad Ashraf, who is the president of the Haripur Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We also pay our taxes. Better infrastructure is our right too.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2013.