Decision to move planned dams draws tribe’s ire

Elders of Babar Tribe urge government to stick to its previous plan

ZHOB: The decision to relocate the site for constructing dams has drawn ire of the people living in the area. Leaders of the Babar Tribe have strongly protested against the decision.

The project under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) Scheme No 1475, costing Rs300 million, is expected to bring several small-sized dams in Zhob, ending the years-long water shortage.



In an emergency press conference in Zhob on Monday, Babar Tribe elders and leaders, including Kamal Khan Babar, Habibullah Babar, Maulvi Fazalur Rehman Babar, Jumma Khan Babar, Hafiz Muhammad Rafiq, Haji Daraz Khan, Malik Muhammad Hasan, Malik Haji Baz Khan, Haji Shah Muhammad Naimat Khan and others, strongly detested the plans to shift the site.

“The people of Zhob were happy when the provincial government announced the PSDP project,” the leaders said. “The landscape of Zhob is well-suited for construction of dams and our people were quite happy over the positive move. However, we have learned that the dams pertaining to areas falling under the Babar Tribe are going to be constructed in other regions which has not only deeply frustrated us but angered us as well.”



They said for a long time the Babar Tribe’s area had been a subject of negligence and that the current decision would only add to the misery of the people.

They warned that they would not support the government in this move and demanded a comprehensive inquiry into the issue.

The leaders of the tribe also demanded of the authorities to reverse the decision and let the project run its previous course.