by Hanif Samoo
MITHI: Karoonjhar Sujag Forum on Thursday have asked the high-ups of both Federal and Sindh governments to move into stern actions and save the famous Karoonjhar hills from further damage and destruction.
Karoonjhar Sujag Forum, a body formed last year to agitate against the illegal extraction of precious granite stone from the famous Karoonjhar hills as well as the people from different walks of life.
Allah Rakhio Khoso, member of Karoonjhar Sujag alleged that the influential builders and the contractors were again busy extracting granite and gravel from the beds of rivulets for the construction purposes near Nagarparkar town and areas of the Tharparkar district.
The illegal practice resumed by the greedy contractors and builders a few days back, despite a complete ban on the extraction of stones in the hilly region imposed by Sindh High Court’s Hyderabad circuit bench as it was causing the irreparable damage at various points of the hilly area of Parkar region of Tharparkar .
He further said that the court passed the orders on a petition filed by one Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Hingorjo, against the illegal practice in 2019. The court banning the extraction had directed the concerned officials to ensure the protection of all hills of the Parkar region.
“It is not only contempt of court but also an ugly practice that had marred the beauty of the region. ‘The greed to extract China clay from hilltop and other parts of the hilly region has already caused massive damage to the natural beauty”, he added.
Earlier, after the uproar created in 2019 when the extraction at various points had picked up the momentum by the greedy contractors in connivance with local influential political figures, number of lawmakers on floor of Sindh Assembly had promised to form the committee to protect and preserve the famous hills.
The forum and nature lovers and from across the country have asked the high-ups of Imran Khan-led PTI government to take strong notice of the fresh extraction by some officials and authorities under ‘the control and command of the federal government and order the inquiry into the illegal practice to damage the beautiful hills.
The activists believed that such practices resumed by some powerful people would also badly damage the ecology, environment, the natural habitats of birds and endangered species and the beauty of nature which had attracted the people from all over the world to visit the region.
Karoonjhar over the past few years had become the hub of the tourism If the ongoing extraction is not stopped in the light of court orders the forum would once again take to the streets in Tharparkar towns to register the protest against such practices.
