HARIPUR: A consumer court has barred the tehsil municipal administration from collecting taxes from properties near Khanpur Dam, including Khanpur lakeside.

The order came from judge Muneera Abbasi in response to a lawsuit filed by local contractor Raja Hanif, who insisted the Khanpur TMAwas illegally collecting taxes from the land, which actually belongs to Wapda.

The plaintiff claimed that the TMA was collecting taxes from the owners and contractors of jetties, parasailing and parking on the Khanpur lakeside.

He claimed that the Khanpur Lake and adjacent land was the property of Wapda and there was no MoU or lease agreement between the Wapda’s Khanpur Dam and the TMA Khanpur or the provincial government.

Official says administration will defend its case at all forums

The plaintiff prayed for the issuance of a stay order against tax collection by TMA until the decision on the case.

Judge Muneera Abbasi issued notices to the defendants on the matter and fixed next hearing into it for today (Friday).

In a correspondence with the assistant commissioner of Khanpur on June 13, 2024, the Wapda Xen, who is also the project director of Khanpur Dam, had declared the parking and water sport activities in Khanpur Dam illegal.

He also insisted that the Khanpur TMA’s act of collectingparking fees and revenue from boating, parasailing and paragliding at the dam was illegal as the TMA had no MoU signed with the dam authorities.

The official said the dam authorities had earlier informed the district administration and the commissioner about it, but they didn’t intervene.

He also referred to the recommendations of the “Key Point Intelligence Islamabad about ban on boating or bringing it under the umbrella of Wapda and issuinguniform colours and logos to all boats to check trespass.”

The Xen requested the assistant commissioner to stop the TMA from illegal car parking and encroachment on Wapda’s land, cease revenue collected from car parking and water sports, deposit all funds in Wapda Khanpur dam’s account that were collected so far from car parking and water sports activities carried out on Wapda’s property.

When contacted, Khanpur TMO Rashid Khan Jadoon said in 2020, a committee headed by the then deputy commissioner, Nadeem Nasir, was constituted to develop SOPs for the visit of tourists to the Khanpur Lake.

He said the committee agreed in principle to establish a parking area and allow water sports for minor charges.

The official said the committee’s “collective” decision was signed by the Wapda’s PD.

“We later came up with a tax schedule that was approved by the government in 2021,” he said.

The official said the TMA provided sanitation, waste disposal, potable water and streetlight services to tourists and was implementing SOPs besides protecting the Khanpur Lake’s water from contamination for the minor monthly charges of Rs100,000-Rs200,000.

“The bar on tax collection will cause us financial loss although whatever was done three years ago had the consent of Wapda. We will defend our case at all available forums,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2024