Mir Iqbal
SHOPIAN, Sept 27: A visit to South Kashmir’s Shopian district gives a different perception than rest of Kashmir. Deserted streets, scattered burnt tyres on the roads, police manning the area and an uneasy calm with people desperate to make their efforts to be provided with justice count defines Shopian.
Ever since killing of five youth in CRPF firing, Shopian is giving a picture of 2009 post double murder and rape of Asiya and Nelofar.
People are relentless, ready to prolong the hartal and struggle their way to get justice. Having had to experience fifteen days of strict curfew that authorities imposed after protests, erupted against the killings, Shopian has not succumbed and made a pledge to continue with protests till Gagren CRPF Camp-responsible for the killing wasn’t shifted from there.
The unit holders, whose units are lying defunct along with costly machinery since 1992 when CRPF landed into the industrial area, say they had tried their best to restore their units to produce goods at local level for the region and generate employment for youth, but are aghast that their repeated pleas have been fallen to deaf ears.
Measuring about 62 Kanals of land, the District Industries Board (DIB) had sanctioned 16 industrial units of production among the entrepreneurs in 1981, in which only 11 units remain “partially” functional from 1992 due to the setting up of a CRPF camp at 16.5 Kanals of industrial land.
Locals said industrial sector of Shopian was considered as the hub of small scale industries in south Kashmir pre-nineties and was also famous for some unique units in the Valley. They say the campus comprised of small scale industrial units like a furniture house, cable car corporation, steel plants and pharmaceutical laboratory was not only a first place for employment generation in the area, but it was also a place where money was invested to create assets to generate employment avenues for them.
General Manager Industries, Naseema Wani said as per details available with the DIB, industrial land at Gagren was partitioned and distributed for other purposes. She said apart from 16.5 Kanals of land, CRPF was using eight buildings, one administrative building and two more Kanals of land for roads inside the camp.
Moreover, with marginalized focus on industries development, six Kanals were given to Degree College, Gagren for building and road construction.
Deputy Commissioner Shopian, Bashir Ahmad Bhat said, District Industries Office despite having their own building but under CRPF, is running its office in a hired private building that too some three kilometers from main industrial area.
Meanwhile, General Manager Industries, Naseema Wani was hopeful to start a new industrial area for the district at Chitragam village measuring about more than 400 Kanals of land.
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