State Land Row: Over 500 Shopian shopkeepers in precarious situation

SHOPIAN — The fate of over 500 shopkeepers in Keller and Nagbal areas of south Kashmir’s Shopian district is hanging in balance after authorities asked them to evict from their shops allegedly set up on state land.

After Keller, the shopkeepers of Nagbal area observed a shutdown on Friday in response to the warning issued to them by the Revenue Department, directing them to evict from their shops.

One of the shopkeepers told the news agency KNT that they are in a precarious situation, unsure of the future. “We might be deprived of our livelihood if the government doesn’t halt the process of sealing and demolition. We have been running these shops for decades and today administration terms us ‘encroachers’ and asks us to evict the shops,” he said.

Amid the shutdown, the shopkeepers appealed to LG Manoj Sinha to roll back the order and stop depriving them of their livelihood.