Diamer-Bhasha Dam: Diamer embarks on ‘plantation drive’ for better compensation

Entry of trucks laden with plants is banned in Chilas town but trucks continue to pour in.

GILGIT: As the cycle of demand and supply goes, Gilgit-Baltistan’s (G-B) Diamer Valley has recently seen a rise in the demand for plants as saplings are being imbedded in vast tracts of barren land to obtain higher compensation amounts from authorities.

The federal government has acquired thousands of acres for the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, categorising the land into barren and cultivable. As per the law, owners of cultivable land are entitled to double the amount of compensation given to owners of barren land.



Over the past few months, administration officials have distributed millions of rupees in compensation among residents and the process will continue in the coming couple of weeks.

Thus, in a bid to hoodwink the government and make an extra buck, locals have begun planting saplings on their barren land so as to receive more money from the government.

“This is an attempt to register otherwise barren lands as cultivable to obtain higher rates and a number of influential people are involved in this practice,” Sher Alam, a resident, said on Sunday.

“After the matter was brought to the notice of authorities, the entry of trucks laden with plants has been banned in Chilas town,” he added.

However, hundreds of trucks have entered the town in the past few days, leaving the ban ineffective. Similarly vendors continue to sell plants in the valley, earning a huge profit as the demand is high.

According to locals, recently in Chilas some such stores were ransacked and there have been reports of planted saplings being uprooted and stolen from barren lands in the town.



“There is a strict ban on bringing plants in the valley,” an official of Chilas police said, without explaining if any cases of stealing or robbing vegetation were registered recently.

“Several plants have been impounded for being illegally transported here,” he added.

According to official statistics, at least 4,228 families in 32 villages of Diamer Valley are likely to be affected by the dam’s construction, with agricultural land, which would be submerged, calculated to be an estimated 2,660 acres.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2014.