Concern voiced over illegal construction at ‘disputed’ land

PESHAWAR: Tribal elders from Alamgudar in Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency on Wednesday voiced concern over illegal construction on ‘disputed’ land in Bara bazaar and warned of staging a sit-in outside the Khyber House that if development work didn’t stop within next three days .

Speaking at a news conference here, Haya Khan said the residents had made commitment not to raise any dispute about properties under an agreement with the local administration after returning to Bara.

He said under the agreement it was decided to impose a penalty of Rs50 million
and demolish the house of those who violated the agreement.  The elder accused the political administration of violating the agreement by undertaking construction work on the disputed land.

Flanked by elders, including Janas Khan Yayha Khan, Rasul Shah and others he said that the political administration had stopped construction work in Bara bazaar a decade back, but restarted it by taking advantage of prevailing circumstances.  Haya Khan urged the traders to abstain from investing money in Bara bazaar until the dispute was settled.