Tarbela relocations: Damned by a dam

Affected people ignored and left helpless in Khalabut township.

HARIPUR: Despite the sacrifice of more than 100 villages for the construction of Tarbela Dam, the affected people have always been ignored and left helpless in Khalabut Township.

Unemployment is at peak and a small industrial zone has long been closed except for a small cotton spinning mill in Khalabat Town Ship,  a major affected people’s colony, said Hamid Khan, the Vice President of Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf KTS.

He added that in 1970 the government established a small industrial zone to compensate the loss of agrarian jobs due to loss of agriculture lands to the dam. The industrial zone included, Shafi Woolen Mill, Tarbela Cotton Spinning Mills, Kawasaki Motorcycles, Orion Television, Asi Marbel, and Jhon Steel Mills.

This small industrial state provided good jobs not only to the affected people but also many others from far flung areas. Unfortunately, the industrial zone soon became a deserted land because of inconsistent government policies. Industrialist only stayed till it was a tax free zone. Soon, all industries moved or closed except Tarbela cotton spinning mill. The closures caused heavy job losses, unemployment, and a spread in narcotics use among the youth of the area.

According to Human Rights Awareness (HRA), a Haripur based organization, more than 30,000 affected people of Tarbela Dam are jobless in Khalabat Township, but this problem can be solved through reopening the industries of Khalabat.

The director of HRA, Irfan Khan, said the KTS industrial zone was operational during General Zia’s regime, but it was closed in the democratic period.

He demanded that the existing democratic government should reinstate the free industrial zone as soon as possible for the betterment of the dam affected population, citing “They have a basic right to earn for them and their families.”

He added that HRA will send recommendations to the Ministry of Industries to take sound measures to reopen the free industries zone.

When asked to comment on the issue, KP MPA Gohar Nawaz Khan of the ANP said, “I have been trying for two years, the government should consider reactivating the KTS industrial areas for improving the lives of KTS residents.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2010.