Suki Kinari power project: Tenants protest land acquisition by government

Agreement with govt states district administration to acquire 4,418 kanals of land.

MANSEHRA:

Two tenants arrested for protesting on Kaghan Highway were released on bail on Monday, while seven others remain in police custody.

Villagers from different areas in Kaghan held a protest on Sunday against the government’s land acquisition for Suki Kinari Hydropower project in Balakot, and blocked the Kaghan Highway for two hours. To disperse the crowd, police resorted to baton charge, injuring several protesters. Officials also arrested nine protesters under several sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Later that day, demonstrators surrounded Balakot police station, once again prompting police to use force such as teargas and baton charge. According to police sources, the land being bought by the government belongs to Sadaat family of Kaghan and the protesters have been their tenants for over 100 years.

Located on the rain-fed Kunhar River in Kaghan Valley, the dam will generate 870 megawatts of electricity at a relatively low cost. However, like many other power projects proposed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government to address the crippling energy crisis, communities residing in the respective areas are affected in one way or another.

Mian Muhammad Ashraf, one of the protesters who obtained bail, told The Express Tribune on Monday that hundreds of residents from different villages in Kaghan are tenants on the hydropower project’s proposed land, and are entitled to ownership rights. Residents said the government started acquiring the land for the project – 4,418 kanals – without taking them on board or protecting their rights. Local Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Muhammad Farooq, was the other protester released on bail on Monday.

Farooq said that hundreds of ancestral graves were also located at the site of the project and the agricultural land was the only source of livelihood for hundreds of families. Without consulting us or paying us compensation, the government has planned to buy the land which we will not allow at any cost, he said.

“We are ready to take a bullet before we allow the government to snatch our right to our only livelihood,” said Abdul Ghafoor, another tenant. He added unless the government agrees to pay them their due share they would not allow construction on the dam.

Hazara Commissioner Abid Ali Khan and the project’s executive director, Mian Shahabullah Kakakhel, signed the deal on behalf of the provincial government and the project’s authorities last month.

According to the agreement, the divisional administration will ensure acquisition of 4,418 kanals of land which includes 1,200 kanals of reserved forest land and 30 kanals of the state’s land for the project.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2014.