150 labourers booked for blocking road in Kaghan Valley

MANSEHRA: The police have booked over 150 labourers of 880 megawatts Suki Kinari hydropower project who had blocked the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road to traffic to demand salaries and induction of their sacked colleges.

“As the tourism season is on and tourists suffered a lot because of the blockade of the road and those involved in challenging the writ of the government were booked under the relevant sections of law,” Asif Hussain, the SHO Balakot Police Station, told reporters on Tuesday.

The sacked labourers have been protesting against the company to seek reinstatement as agreed before the coronavirus hit the region. “The tourists who were on way to the Kaghan valley or going back to their respective destinations in the country had remained stuck on both sides of the road because of the blockade of the artery,” said the SHO.

Tahir Hussain Shah, the president of labourers union, after a meeting with the Assistance commissioner Balakot told reporters that the company executing the mega energy project in Kaghan valley had signed an agreement with them but now deviated from its commitments. He said that AC Balakot, Sameer Hussain Lughari, had sought two-day time to solve the issue.