MANSEHRA: The district administration of Mansehra would acquire a 4,400-kanal piece of land for execution of Suki Kanari hydropower project.

The dam will be built on the Kunhar River in Kaghan valley to generate 870 megawatts electricity.

“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is facilitating construction of Suki Kanari dam and district administration will acquire 4,400-kanal land for it through its revenue department,” Deputy Commissioner Zulfiqar Shah told journalists here on Monday.

He said that Section 4 was already imposed in Kaghan valley for acquisition of the land as government wanted to address the energy crisis in the province.

“The survey of dam has recently been completed,” the deputy commissioner said, adding that he met with local landowners in that regards.

He said that a memorandum of understating was already singed between Hazara commissioner and management of Suki Kanari hydropower project.

Mr Shah said that Hazara commissioner was taking keen interest in early acquisition of land and payment to local landowners. He said that the government would make necessary arrangements to transfer about 1,230-kanal land of reserved forests and another piece of state land in the name of project.

The deputy commissioner said that the project would benefit the people of the area to overcome the energy crisis. The departments concerned should give top priority to the project, he added.

“We have assured the landowners that government will pay them price of the land in accordance with the formula, set by revenue department,” he added.

Mr Shah said that landowners had assured the district administration of their cooperation but they wanted reasonable price of land.

UNIVERSITY: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohammad Yousuf has said that work will be started soon on the first-ever women university in Hazara.

“Our government gives due importance to female education. To bring women of upper parts of Hazara at par with men a women university will be established here,” he said while addressing a function at a private school in Gari Habibullah on Monday.

The minister said that the university would be established in Jabba area as land was already acquired for the purpose. He lauded the role of private educational institutions in promotion of education.

Mr Yousuf said that female education and women empowerment were must for prosperity and development of the country.

He said that government was thinking seriously to make Arabic a compulsory subject at school level to bring positive change in the society as students would be able understand the holy Quran.

He said that government wanted to include computer sciences as a subject in the syllabus of seminaries after taking their administrators on broad. “Seminaries are not involved in extremism. It is only propaganda of anti-Islam elements as a Muslim cannot be a terrorist,” he said.

The minister also addressed a public meeting in the area and said that government had approved mega development projects in Hazara and survey for establishment of an airport in Mansehra was almost completed.

He said that soon work on Hassan Abdal-Mansehra motorway would be started.

He also addressed a press conference in Balakot and said that provincial government was creating hurdles in completion of New Balakot City housing project.

He said that federal government had paid price of land acquired for the project but provincial government failed to get it vacated from landowners at Bakrial.

He said that he had already taken up the issue with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and was still waiting for his positive response.

Meanwhile, the local traders have decided Afghans shopkeepers will not be allowed to cast vote in the elections traders’ union.

The decision was taken in a meeting held here on Monday with Haroonur Rasheed, president of the traders’ union, in the chair. The meeting withdrew its earlier decision in which Afghan traders were allowed to cast vote in their elections.

The meeting also decided to extend the tenure of current cabinet of the union for four months.