Taking over: QWP lawmaker warns of protests over mega city project

Says residents not willing to give up arable land to the government.

SWABI:

Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) MPA Abdul Karim on Saturday warned residents of Swabi would block Peshawar-Islamabad motorway in protest if the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government attempted to take their arable lands for the construction of a ‘mega city’.

The K-P government has proposed the development of the housing plan, known as Nowshera Motorway Mega City Project, which is spread across 10,000 acres of land on the border of Nowshera and Swabi districts along the Peshawar-Islamabad motorway. A huge chunk of the land has been reserved for an ‘education city’ on the directives of K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Karim said around 38,000 kanals of land in several Swabi villages would be affected by the proposed project. He said each kanal of the land is worth hundreds of thousands rupees, whereas the government has decided to lower prices for their procurement. He added the government had not taken farmers, political figures or even local parliamentarians into confidence regarding the move.

The MPA said former minister Sikandar Hayat Sherpao had inaugurated Pehur High Level Canal extension project which would be completed at a cost of Rs4 billion. Karim said its completion would ensure many areas of the district are irrigated and the worth of these arable lands will increase further. He added the mega city, however, would not only deprive farmers from their land, but would also render the canal extension project useless.

Karim said the government was imposing its decision on the farmers. “I advise them to take the land owners and public representatives of the area into confidence rather than enforcing the project on them. Otherwise, locals and elders would resist the execution of the project,” warned Karim.

Farmers of Mughalki village and adjacent areas in Nowshera, whose lands also came under the project, protested against the government’s decision on November 29 in front of Peshawar Press Club. They blamed the leadership for attempting to snatch away their only source of income.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2013.