Protest held against granite extraction in Thar

KARACHI: A large number of people from different walks of life took out a rally at the call of ‘Karoonjhar Sujag Forum’ and staged a demonstration against development schemes and the massive granite extraction in the famous Karoonjhar Hills of Nagarparkar in Thar that is damaging sites of religious and historic significance, besides the environment.

The social activists, political workers, shopkeepers and traders of the hilly town, Nagarparkar, in a show of solidarity with the leaders of the forum participated in the rally and demonstration after shutting down their shops. Allah Rakhio Khoso, Zulfikar Ali Khoso, Fakir Arshad Kumbhar, Ghulam Mustafa Dal, Sagir Khaskheli, Obhayo Junejo and other leaders of the Forum, while addressing the protest rally outside the local press club, deplored the indiscriminate extraction of granite and various development schemes, including construction of small dams and roads causing irreparable damage to the beautiful hills and environment.

They deplored that no action was being taken against those involved in illegal granite mining for the past many months, despite the high court orders. They said that a mining company is claiming to be doing so under the Sindh government's lease.

The protesting leaders of ‘Karoonjhar Sujag Forum’ said despite protests and several reminders to the PPP lawmakers of the area to help stop the extraction, the companies continue to damage sites of heritage and religious significance like Charinda. This continuous extraction against the court orders implies the PPP legislators and senior officials of the Sindh government seem indirectly involved in allowing indiscriminate extraction of granite and gravel, they alleged.

The protesting leaders of the Forum demanded declaring the entire region as a World Heritage Site as promised by the top PPP leadership. They also demanded installation of a chairlift to attract more tourists to the region during monsoons.

Terming it unfortunate that lawmakers of the ruling PPP, imported from other districts including MNA Ameer Ali Shah Jilani and MPA Qasim Siraj Soomro were least concerned over the massive damage and destruction to the Karoonjhar Hills and doing virtually nothing to stop it.

Against this backdrop, the people of the hilly town and Nagarparkar region have decided 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 in line with the orders of Sindh High Court, they said.