Diamer residents threaten to halt dam construction

Say long-standing boundary issues should be resolved

GILGIT: Residents of Diamer have threatened to stop construction work on Diamer-Bhasha Dam if the long-standing conflict between Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Harban areas over a strip of land is not settled.

“We will not allow work on the dam unless the boundary issue is settled,” Lambardar Bashir said during a press conference in Gilgit on Tuesday. “The demarcation should be done under the supervision of the army.”

The elders of Thore Valley accused Kohistan MPA Abdul Sattar of taking money from the Indian intelligence agency, RAW, for sabotaging the dam and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The notables with Bashir said the strip of land belonged to the forefathers of people who are settled in Thore since long.

They added commute on the Karakoram Highway has become a nightmare due to the dispute. Therefore, they demanded police take action against those disrupting law and order.

“If the situation is not settlde amicably, there are chances it will be settled after bloodshed.”

The elders also refused to accept the report of a commission which was formed to settle the dispute.

The nearly 10-kilometre stretch of land on both sides of the Basari check post, which separates Kohistan from G-B, has long been a bone of contention between people of Thore Valley in Diamer and Harban Nala in Kohistan. The disputed land is among the areas being demarcated for acquisition for the much-awaited dam.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2016.