KHAIRPUR, March 18: District Nazim Syed Niaz Hussain Shah Jilani on Friday banned chopping of trees in the Nara desert of the district. The order said that survival of wild and domestic animals was directly linked with some of the old scattered forest patches in the valleys of the desert area.
The district nazim stated that these trees have grown during the last 80 to 100 years when the Indus River was flooding the area before Sukkur Barrage but some influential people, after encroaching on government lands were illegally giving contracts of tree chopping, who are responsible for the degradation of unique desert habitat. The district nazim directed the police officers/forest officials to take cognisance against violators and confiscate their tractors and trolleys if they found involved in this illegal business.
PROTEST: About 200 people from seven villages of Gambat taluka marched through the Samo Village near Khuhra on tractor trolleys and raised slogans against police here on Friday.
The protesters reached Khairpur and marched on different roads and staged a demonstration outside the office of DPO (operation).
They were led by Mohammad Hussain Ujjan, the naib nazim of UC Kumb, Ghulam Hyder Ujjan and Ali Mardan Ujjan wherein relatives of deceased Shahnawaz Ujjan and injured Yar Khan Ujjan were also present.
The protesters maintained that on February 22, a group of unidentified armed men killed Shahnawaz and injured Yar Khan while snatching his motorcycle in the Redar village.
They said that police were informed about the accused but they were released after their arrest.
Later, In-charge District Police Officer, DPO, Javed Jiskani, met a delegation of protesters and assured them of immediate arrest of the accused.
The DPO also directed the Gambat police to arrest the accused within a week.
