MIRPUR:
A day after the Mangla Dam Affectees Action Committee (MDAAC) threatened to stage a long march to pressurise the government to honour its commitment with people displaced because of higher water level in the reservoir, Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) visited New Mirpur City to assure them they would get all they had bargained for.
The committee had accused the AJK government of colluding to strike down the package for rehabilitation for additional families affected by the Mangla Dam and planned a long march to the Mangla Dam powerhouse if the government failed to accede to their demands within 15 days. The protest was called off after personal assurances by AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, who visited New Mirpur City to reiterate the pledge to resettle the families at residential sites exclusively planned for them. Talking to people affected by the raising of the Mangla Dam late Sunday night, he said displaced families would be resettled in New Mirpur City and four model towns in the district. “Mangla Dam affectees will be rehabilitated before the completion of the Mew Mirpur City and four small towns constructed at Chakswari, Siakh, Dadayal and Islamgarh in Mirpur district.”
Majeed said the families would be provided with the latest amenities at par with city dwellers and projects worth Rs5 billion had been initiated for water supply and sewerage had been launched in Mirpur district with funds allocated by the federal government. While assuring the affected families of Mirpur district, he acknowledged that they deserve to be appreciated for ‘sacrificing their valuable properties and their elders’ graves for Pakistan’s prosperity’. He said this was ample proof of the deep-rooted attachment of Kashmiris with Pakistan. “The people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir will not hesitate to offer any sacrifice for Pakistan’s defence in case of any threat to its (Pakistan’s) ideological and geographical frontiers.”
The MDAAC had alleged that displaced families had not received full compensation and Wapda and the resettlement organisation had failed to assist thousands of people displaced by the latest construction. Committee members had also complained that the newly constructed sites, including New Mirpur City, lacked basic amenities. They had threatened to impede additional construction until all the displaced families were resettled.
They said that there was no justification for raising the water level in the reservoir while over 12,000 families had no place to go.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2011.
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