Pakistan: Landowners demand compensation for lands acquired for hydropower project

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Landowners who have been denied compensation for the land acquired for Diamer-Basha hydropower project staged a sit-in on the Karakoram Highway post which commuters remained stranded for long hours, media reports said.

The compensation was promised by the Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA). However, it still hangs in balance. This has come in the wake of the non-settlement of boundary issues between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan, reported Pakistan’s local media portal, Dawn.

The protestors complained about a long delay in the compensation to them for the land acquired by the administration for the Diamer-Basha hydropower project. Landowners in the Kohistan area were denied their payments.

The protesters blocked the Harban Basha area of Kohistan district through a sit-in and shouted slogans against the government. The commuters remained stranded for many hours on both sides of the artery, as per the media portal.

Asadullah Qureshi, the chairman of the Harban tehsil council told protesters that the delay in issuance of an order by the federal government regarding the settlement of KP-GB boundary dispute had denied landowners in Kohistan area the compensation and other incentives promised by the Wapda.

He said the jirgas held by elders of Harban (Kohistan) and Thor (Chilas) tribes with the support of both governments had made an agreement on the boundary dispute in September last year but the federal government was delaying action on it.

“We won’t end this sit-in until our all demands especially payment of compensation are met,” he said. Meanwhile, people from different walks of life highlighted their issues during a meeting organised by the Balakot tehsil administration on Tuesday.

Assistant commissioner Basharat Bibi, who presided over the event, promised the early resolution of those issues. (ANI)