Three years and counting: Landowners in Kohistan await payment

Land was acquired from owners for Dasu Hydro Power Project

ABBOTABAD: Owners of land acquired for Dasu Hydro Power Project in Kohistan have demanded urgent payment for their property or else they say it should be returned to their possession. This was stated at a news conference held by landowners on Tuesday.

Jamaat-e-Islami Kohistan Naib Ameer Haji Mehtab said the government acquired their agricultural land three years ago for the DHPP but has not paid them yet.

This was despite funds being transferred into the official account of the Kohistan DC. “Although construction has not begun on the said piece of land, we were not allowed to farm on it or to build anything on it,” he said. Mehtab added if the government is unable to pay them, it should at least give owners back the right of possession so they could earn a living.

He also demanded landowners of Pattan be paid Rs1.36 million per kanal, the same rate as paid to those in Dasu tehsil. They will not accept any less, said Mehtab.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2015.