Locals protest demarcation of land for public park near Khanpur Dam

HARIPUR: A large number of residents including women staged a protest against the demarcation of a disputed land for a public park near Khanpur Dam.

The protesters said that the matter was currently sub judice and they will not allow any work on the public park until the matter is adjudicated.

The dispute escalated when the Khanpur Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) staff arrived at the site with heavy machinery to demarcate the land designated for the park. However, the landowners stopped them from carrying out any work.

As soon as the TMA machinery reached the site, a large number of local women joined the men in protest. The landowners claimed they had obtained a stay order from the Abbottabad High Court.

Speaking to the media, TMO Khanpur Ayesha Tahira said that if any court has issued a stay order regarding the land, it should be shown to the TMA, as they have not received any such court directive so far.

Later, DSP Khanpur Arif Khan held negotiations with both the TMA officials and the protesters. He convinced both parties to allow the demarcation of the land allocated for the park to be completed for now. He assured that if any court issues a stay order, the TMA Khanpur would fully comply with it. With the consent of both parties, the demarcation process began.

The landowners maintained that the district administration was being unfair to them by attempting to include their inhabited and inherited lands in the public park through unlawful means.

They stated they had neither sold their land nor intended to. They accused certain elements of trying to exploit them for personal gain. The owners said they would not allow any individual or department to take control of land that had been in their family for centuries and that they had already approached the courts for justice.

Political representatives, on the other hand, said that the proposed Family and Children’s Park at Darra was a landmark project by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, covering 67 kanals of land.

They said that its prime location just a few steps from the main gate of Khanpur Dam made it ideal for public use.

They said that not only would local women and children benefit from excellent recreational facilities, but the millions of tourists visiting the dam annually would also have a resting place.

The locals argued that they and their ancestors had already sacrificed hundreds of kanals of land for the Khanpur Dam and now the remaining land, which includes their residential plots, is being forcibly acquired for the park.

Two days ago, the city court dismissed the stay order filed by the affected parties. Following this, the Khanpur tehsil administration arrived at the site to carry out routine demarcation work. However, the local residents of Darra, including baton-wielding women, came out in protest. As they obstructed the demarcation process being supervised by TMO Khanpur, Assistant Commissioner Tazeen Zafar, DSP Arif Khan, and SHO Haroon Khan were also summoned to maintain law and order.

Successful negotiations were then held between the administration and protest leaders – including Malik Azmat, Qareeb Muhammad Ramzan, and Raja Hanif Ahsan Kayani – after which revenue department officials were permitted to carry out the demarcation according to the official map.

Meanwhile, the protesters maintained that they had received a stay order from the Abbottabad High Court but failed to present any documentation at the time. The administration granted them additional time to furnish proof.