Mangla Dam expansion: Social activist to go on hunger strike

I want to help people who have been uprooted because of Mangla Dam’s expansion, he says in a statement.

ISLAMABAD:

Political and social activist Jahangir Akhtar will go on hunger strike for an indefinite period from Wednesday at Kallar Syedan to press for the rights of locals affected by the Mangla Dam project.

I want to help people who have been uprooted because of Mangla Dam’s expansion, since they lack representation in the corridors of power, he said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

“I’ll go on hunger strike for an indefinite period in Kallar Syedan.”

The government must compensate the people who have sacrificed their land for the expansion of the water reservoir and have been waiting for financial assistance, resettlement and rehabilitation for years, he added.

“While AJK residents have received compensation, people living on the other side of Jhelum River in Rawalpindi and Jhelum districts have been discriminated against.”

“People do not have access to education or health facilities.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2014.