New Delhi, Aug 10: Residents of three remote villages in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh have petitioned the Army Chief Gen N C Vij seeking his intervention in restoring a vital road link "arbitrarily" closed by local army authorities. In a letter to Gen Vij along with resolutions passed by the gram panchayats of Nouri, Jandpur and Trehal of Baijnath tehsil, the villagers said though the army had acquired their ancestral land in 1942, a pedestal road connecting it to the only school in the area was provided to them, which was in use till 1998 "without any kind of obstruction."

The villagers claimed they began facing problems from 1998 with the arrival of a new commander. "We requested the authorities to open the road leading to our villages and they opened but the present army authorities arbitrarily closed the path on April 6, 2003 and have not listened to our repeated requests," the letter said.

With the closure of the road, not only has the Kendriya Vidyalaya at Alhilal, the only school in the area, become inaccessible but also the cremation ground at Palikeshwar, a holy place of cremation for these villages.

What is more, the villagers alleged the authorities were planning to fence canal land belonging to the villagers and if a suitable access was not provided, they would not be able to irrigate and cultivate it. Recalling the army's role in providing them with medical, transport and educational facilities in the past, the villagers, mostly Dogras, assured the army chief that they were equally concerned about security matters.

Bureau Report