LAHORE: Acquisition of hundreds of acres in Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Dasu hydropower project’s main civil works has become complicated after the people, who had received compensation for surrendering their land to the government for the Diamer-Bhasha dam, started investing in the Dasu area in an attempt to claim hefty amounts in compensation, sources said on Tuesday.

The situation pushed Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), which had started civil works last year at the available land in Dasu Town, to ask the federal government to acquire the land on an urgent basis, failing which the project’s cost and completion time would continue to escalate.

“Sigloo, Kass and Sheikhabad are the areas where we urgently need over 500 acres for launching main civil works of the Dasu project. But the residents/owners are creating a do-or-die-like situation whenever they are contacted for acquiring of their land.

Recent investments in Sigloo, Kass and Sheikhabad complicate prices, land category issues

“Another factor, which is making the situation more and more tough, is that some of those who received compensation against their land for Bhasha dam also started investment in these areas [Sigloo, Kass and Sheikhabad] by constructing buildings and other infrastructure in a bid to get handsome payment from the government in lieu of Dasu dam project,” an official source told Dawn.

According to a senior Wapda official, Prime Minister Imran Khan had been requested in a recent meeting to personally look into the issue and ensure acquisition of land for the project at the earliest. The locals demand that the government change the category of their land and rates of compensation.

“And it is up to the government what final decision it takes,” the official said.

He said the PM had assured Wapda officials weeks ago that the government would soon resolve the issue.

According to a source, Wapda actually needs a total of 9,875 acres for the entire project. Of this, it requires around 2,000 acres for civil works and a colony, while the remaining 7,888 acres are needed for the reservoir and other purposes.

Official rates, land categories

The source said the land had been categorised as urban, semi-urban, rural, barren, cultivated, residential, commercial and their rates had been fixed accordingly. The executive committee of the national economic council (Ecnec) had approved compensation rates for the land in different categories some three years back.

“On Nov 14, 2015, Ecnec had approved compensation rates for acquiring the land for Dasu project by dividing the land into various categories such as urban, semi-urban, rural, barren, cultivated, residential, commercial etc.

However, locals not only rejected the rates but also the nature/categorisation of the land the government had done,” the source explained.

“Now they are demanding compensation more than that [had been] decided by Ecnec in 2015.”

The project being constructed along the River Indus, seven kilometres upstream of Dasu Town, is vital not only for KP but also for the entire country, as it will trigger a new era of socio-economic development in remote areas of the province and stabilise economy by providing low-cost hydel power.

The source said the area where the priority land existed was sort of semi-tribal, having no land/ revenue record. While mountains were usually considered state owned, here such areas [mountains] were owned by individuals, they explained.

Land acquisition law

Due to various such issues, the government has not even managed to start a survey of the land it required for the project despite enforcement of Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, which empowers the government to notify the area/land required for various projects in public interest — about seven years before.

An official said whenever revenue teams visited the areas for survey purposes, the residents offered severe resistance. The official added the government must resolve this issue on a top priority basis rather than waiting to see the situation getting out of control.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2018

Download the new Dawn mobile app here:

Google Play