Mangla dam: Affected people threaten to stage long march

Allege lack of basic facilities at new residential settlements.

MIRPUR, AJK:

The Mangla Dam Affectees Action Committee (MDAAC) threatened to stage a long march towards the Mangla Dam powerhouse to pressure the authorities into accepting their demands within 15 days.

The committee has accused the incumbent AJK government of conspiring to abolish the announced package for rehabilitation of additional families who have been affected by the Mangla Dam.

Speaking at a news conference at the Kashmir press club, the committee’s, President Mirza Ashiq Hussasin Jiraal, said that the affected people had called off their protest after AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed assured them that the relief package would be implemented in its entirety.

The MDAAC alleged that the incomplete process of delivery of compensation to the displaced families on the part of Wapda and the state-run Resettlement Organisation of AJK government have forced the affected people to launch the protest against “the insincere policies of the AJK government towards their rehabilitation.”

It further alleged that despite tall claims, the newly constructed residences, including the mega New Mirpur City, lacked the basic amenities.

Committee leaders criticised Wapda and the resettlement organisation for “their negligence and failure” in providing assistance to thousands of people who have been displaced by the construction of the dam.

In addition, the committee members threatened to impede the construction of the dam unless compensation and rehabilitation of all affected people was completed and the displaced families moved to the new residential sites.

They said that there was no justification for raising the water level in the reservoir while over 12,000 families could not be resettled.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2011.