Kullu: Fourlane samiti to intensify agitation
Kullu, July 5
The Kullu Fourlane Sangharsh Samiti has given an ultimatum to the government that if it does not hold a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur with its members within 10 days, it will intensify their agitation.
Addressing a press conference here today, samiti president Dinesh Sen said a number of meetings had been held in the last seven years but to no avail. He said the BJP had mentioned in its manifesto that it would provide compensation four times that of the market rate for the acquired land but it forgot its promise.
He said even Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari accepted the matter that the fourlane affected should get their rights. He said the matter was not only about those affected by the Kiratpur-Manali road but rather there were 48 Assembly constituencies, which would be affected by four-lane works.
Sen said the samiti had held a chain hunger strike for 12 days last month in Dhalpur. During his visit to Kullu on June 18, the CM had assured the mediators — former MP Maheshwar Singh and state Ex-Servicemen Corporation chairman Brigadier Khushal Thakur (retd) — that soon he would hold a meeting with samiti members.
He said they had requested the CM to hold the meeting by July 5. He added that today he approached Maheshwar who stated that the CM had been busy in Hyderabad and urged the Samiti to give some more time.
He said if no solution was found for their demands in the near future, then the leaders would have to face the fury of the affected persons. He said that members will resort to burning effigies, show black flags and oppose government functions.
