Protesters vow not to give their homes, land for Ravi River project

The people affected by the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development project on Tuesday again vowed that they would not give away their homes and land for the venture launched by the PTI government, reported 24NewsHD TV channels.

As part of the movement which gaining momentum with each passing day, a protest was organised at the Mehmood Boti Ring Road Interchange in which a large of industrialists, labourers, landowners, farmers and residents participated.

They want to snatch their factories and land, said the protesters about the project which has been described as a game changer by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

It wasn’t the first protest staged by the people as it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of them would be affected by the project. The officials have already started marking the houses and properties for acquisition and demolition.

According to media reports, property developers are very active in the provincial capital to acquire maximum land in the area before the government kick start land acquisition for development of the new city.

Last week, the locals – who rejected the venture, describing it as a plan to displace and make the population homeless – had protested in large numbers, saying precious land was being acquired at a nominal rate. Citizens from Sagian, Mehmood Boti, Karol and other adjacent localities were among the protesters.

They said paying Rs7 million for one acre of fertile agriculture land with an actual price of millions more was a great injustice.

On the other hand, hundreds of industrialists from the Mehmood Boti area too took to the streets and said hundreds of units – small, medium and large – were on the verge of destruction. 

They demanded that the industries should be excluded from the area reserved for the project by declaring these as part of an industrial zone.