Punjab govt submits report on Dadhocha Dam to SC

Report says litigation, land acquisition issues cause work delay

ISLAMABAD:

The Punjab government has submitted a report on the construction of Dadhocha Dam to the Supreme Court.

A case for the procurement of additional land for the construction of Dadhocha Dam was presented in Supreme Court. The case was heard by a two-judge bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah.

At the beginning of the hearing of the case, the Punjab Irrigation Department submitted a report in the court regarding the construction of the Daducha Dam. The court ordered to provide a copy of the report to the parties and the hearing of the case was adjourned for two weeks.

According to the report, because of various difficulties, including land acquisition, litigation and the nature of construction, the construction of the dam has not yet been started. However, because of the delay in construction, any kind of construction near the dam has been banned, and notices have been issued to the owners of the surrounding lands.

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It said that a total of Rs2,853 million has been set aside for the acquisition of land, out of which Rs1,773 million has been provided to the Land Acquisition Department for the acquisition of additional land for the dam.

It said that following the decision of the Supreme Court, the land of the dam was re-examined, after which the notification for land acquisition was changed. The work for land acquisition was contracted on April 20, 2020.

By February 20, the FWO had completed 12 per cent of the spillways. Meanwhile, the landowners challenged the land acquisition process in court on which the Lahore High Court stopped work on the site. Subsequently, the construction of spillways was resumed after seeking permission from the Supreme Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2021.