‘Pak stops work on model village Keran’ √RAJA Srinagar, Oct 22: Amid continued Indo-Pak skirmishes along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB), Pakistan is reported to have forced the J&K government to stop ongoing construction work on “Model Village” Keran near LoC in the frontier district of Kupwara. The state government has now decided to rush a high level departmental team to the area to assess the situation. Official sources said Keran was being developed as a Model Village under Border Area Development Programme (BADP) and an amount of Rs 2.18 crore was to be spent on its upgradation. Besides roads, footpaths, Children Park, Community Hall and Library blocks were to be constructed in the village. Nasir Ali Khan, deputy Sarpanch of Keran village told Greater Kashmir that seven persons from Pakistan wearing Army uniforms Monday evening appeared 200 meters near the construction site and asked the contractor to stop work. Khan said construction work was going on at the Children’s Park, Community Hall and Library blocks. “All these structures were being constructed at the banks of Kishenganga (Neelam) River,” he said. Khan said all the seven persons were heavily armed and they told the contractor that they have been asked by their higher ups to do so. “They (Pakistanis) told us to stop the work. In case you do not stop work we are not responsible for the consequences,” deputy Sarpanch said. Khan said the contractors are residents of Tandipora Kupwara. “They did not resume their work today,” he said. Khan said they reported the matter to the Police and Army. “We went to Police Station Keran and informed them,” he said. “We have got the message from Police Station Keran,” a middle-rung police official from Kupwara said. Assistant Commissioner Development (ACD) Kupwara admitted that the work has been stopped by Pakistan. “The area is inaccessible. We have such reports,” ACD said adding a high level departmental team will visit the area tomorrow (Wednesday). The team, he said will be headed by a senior engineer of the Rural Development Department. Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah is scheduled to visit Tanghdar (Karnah) tomorrow (Wednesday) and address a public rally there. Keran block is the part of Karnah constituency. Speaking to Greater Kashmir, J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Prasad confirmed that construction work has been stopped. “We will communicate to the concerned department,” DGP said adding that such issues are resolved at flag meetings.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 03:08:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015