Progress on acquiring land for dams reviewed

WAPDA assures locals of addressing legitimate cases

ISLAMABAD:

An implementation committee on Diamer Bhasha and Mohmand Dams, constituted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, met on Thursday to review progress on land acquisition and resettlement of locals from project sites.

The committee met at the request of the sub-committee on land acquisition and resettlement relating to Diamer Bhasha Dam. Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Engineer Lt Gen (Retd) Sajjad Ghani, who is also chairman of the implementation committee, presided over the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, the Wapda chief acknowledged the progress made by the sub-committee on tasks assigned to it by the implementation body in its previous meeting. He expressed hope that the administration of Gilgit-Baltistan would soon finalise a strategy to proceed further to resolve the remaining cases of households.

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“Wapda highly values the sacrifices made by those affected by the projects, therefore, we are very compassionate to address their legitimate cases,” he remarked.

At the huddle, the Diamer-Astore Division commissioner spoke about the status of cases as well as terms of reference of
the grievances redressing committee.

It is important to note that construction work on all key sites of Diamer Bhasha Dam and Mohmand Dam is progressing at a good pace.

Wapda is constructing the Diamer Bhasha Dam across Indus River to store 8.1 million acre feet (MAF) of water and generate 4,500 megawatts of clean, green and low-cost hydel electricity. The dam is scheduled for completion in 2028.