MANSEHRA: The people of Dubgran village on Wednesday blocked a major road in Mansehra during a protest against Wapda for blocking the relocation of the graves of their ancestors.

The protesters claimed the administration had allotted them land for the purpose but Wapda had stopped them from using it to bury the remains of their relatives, whose graves come in the way of the Hassanabdal-Mansehra Motorway being constructed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

“We have already given over 1,500 kanals of our land for various development projects, including the CPEC, but when we want to relocate bodies of our ancestors from an old graveyard to another place, officials of a local Wapda grid station are creating hurdles in our way,” district councillor Mohsin Ali told protesters on Wednesday.

The villagers placed rocks and coffins on the Mansehra-Badra Road in Dubgran area to block it to traffic for over an hour.

PTI district president Babar Saleem Swati, councillor Mohsin Ali and former union nazims Asif Khan and Mina Basharat Ali led the protest.

Insist graves of ancestors coming in the way of Motorway

Councillor Mohsin Ali said the people of Dubgran had already given away 242 kanals of land for the grid station, 547 kanals for industrial estate, 100 kanals for police lines and 400 kanals for the CPEC.

He said the graveyard, where locals had buried their ancestors, came in the way of the Hassanabdal-Mansehra Motorway, were being relocated to a nearby 15-marla land but the Wapda officials working at a local grid station stopped them from using that land.

Former union nazim Mian Basharat said villagers had dig up more than 20 graves at the new place and would bury the remains of their ancestors.

He asked the Wapda to install power pylons at an adjoining area.

Landowner Mohammad Sajid warned the villagers could move the court to ensure the smooth graveyard relocation.

THREAT ISSUED: The people affected by the 870-megawatt Suki Kinari hydropower project on Wednesday announced they would not abandon their land and properties until their demands are met.

The project is being built on the Kunhar River in Kaghan valley under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The announcement was made in a meeting held in Balakot to discuss the response to the notices issued to the project-affected people by the district administration to vacate their land and properties before June 2.

TRAINING CENTRE OPENED: The World Bank on Wednesday inaugurated an embroidery training centre for women in Upper Kohistan.

A representative of the World Bank inaugurated the centre.

“The centre will give training to local women on how to earn a respectable livelihood for themselves and families,” Saqib Zia, the chief engineer of the 4200-megawatt Dasu hydropower project, told reporters after the inaugural ceremony.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2017