The leaders of Karoonjhar Sujag Forum, a body formed last year to agitate against the illegal extraction of precious granite stone from the famous Karoonjhar hills, with the people from different walks of life on Thursday asked the high-ups of both federal and Sindh governments to take action against the influential people busy in the granite extraction and save the famous Karoonjhar hills from further damage and destruction.
Allah Rakhio Khoso, Zulfikar Ali Khoso, Ramesh Karoonjhari and others talking to this reporter alleged that the influential builders contractors in a bid to carry out various development schemes in the region, were again busy extracting granite and gravel from the beds of rivulets and from the hills for the construction purposes near Nagarparkar town and areas of the Tharparkbusy district . They deplored the fact that the illegal practice resumed by the reedy 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 was causing the irreparable damage at various points of the hilly area of Parkar. They 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.
They said that it was 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 and the deep drenches dug for the extraction of the clay already claimed the lives of the area people” they added. The leaders reminded the PPP leadership as well as the lawmakers from Tharparkar of their promises to save the pebbles of Karoonjhar stained with the blood of freedom fighters like Rooplo Kolhi, Udhe Singh and thousands of others, who had fought with invading British forces and laid down their lives in protecting their heartland wayback in mid of 1850s. They said that after the uproar created by the lovers of Karoonjhar 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 leaders of the forum as well as nature lovers from across the country have asked the high-ups of Imran Khan-led PTI government to take notice of the fresh extraction by some officials under ‘the control and command of the federal government and order the inquiry into the illegal practice to damage the beautiful hills. They said that Karoonjhar over the past few years had become the hub of the tourism adding they underscored the need to further promote tourism at Karoonjhar hills by installing a chairlift at top of the hills and by opening more resorts. “If the ongoing extraction was not stopped in the light of court orders they would once again take to the streets in Tharparkar towns to register their protest against such practices, they warned.
