Cost of building wonders: KKH blocked for hours near Sost

Protesters claim land compensation was never paid out

GILGIT: Hundreds of people blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) for several hours Gilgit-Baltistan on Thursday just four score kiliometers from the border with China.

They demanded compensation for their land which had been used by the government around a decade ago to build the highway.

Over 500 locals staged a protest in Sost on KKH and blocked the highway till noon on Thursday. The protest caused routine traffic between G-B and China to be suspended. However, officials said that the sit-in did not affect activities related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“This [sit-in] is a reminder to the government to stop treating us unfairly,” said Ali Ahmed, a protestor. He was referring to the compensation which the National Highway Authority (NHA) was allegedly ‘willfully’ denying the locals for the past eight years. “Our lands were taken away for the construction of the KKH, but we are yet to be paid,” he added.

The realignment and revamp of KKH started from Gojal in 2007 and was completed down till the Raikot Bridge in Diamer district over the subsequent years. At least 150 families in Gojal who gave up land for the highway have not yet been compensated.

Farhad Hussain, a local farmer, said that the government had conducted land surveys in the area with locals present. He added that the officials in charge gave locals several assurances that the authorities had accepted the land ownership claim of locals and that they would be paid.

Claiming that their rights were being denied, the participants raised slogans in favour of the Pakistan Army.

Meanwhile, owing to the protest, a large convoy of trucks and tourists visiting G-B were stuck due to the blockade.

The blockade finally came to an end after Arif Hussain, a representative of the government, negotiated with the locals and assured them of resolving the matter within two weeks. The protesters finally dispersed at about 3pm.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2016.