On brink of paralysis: Khalabat Township faces financial crisis

Locals who relocated to accommodate Tarbela could lose water supply

HARIPUR:

The people of Khalabat, who rendered the ultimate sacrifice of fertile soil and the graves of their ancestors to ensure others in the country get water and power, could be stripped of services which require both essential commodities in the near future.  

The financial crisis at the Khalabat Township Municipal Committee (KMC) deepens further as the area’s filling station has suspended fuel supply. Disconnection of electricity is also imminent due to outstanding bills, insiders told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

The staff and pensioners were also not paid their dues for the last three months, forcing them to threaten agitation against authorities. The municipal committee looks over the union councils of Tarbela and Khalabat with a combined population of over 150,000 inhabitants. All of them are affected by the construction of the massive irrigation and power generating project of Tarbela Dam.

Resettlement

Residents of over 100 small and large villages were displaced and resettled in Khalabat Township in the early 70s. Initially, some industrial units were also established to offer jobs to the affected communities. However, with the passage of time, the entrepreneurs closed down their industries declaring them as unfeasible when the government reportedly withdrew rebates.

The municipal committee of Khalabat Township had remained attached to the Haripur district council and the latter bore its expenses. The committee itself was unable to cover the costs of staff hired to provide civic amenities for residents.

Later, with the introduction of district government under the Musharraf regime, Khalabat Township municipal committee was attached to the Haripur Tehsil Municipal Administration which funded the body from its own income as well as financial assistance provided by the provincial government.

However, when the system was wrapped up in 2009, KMC was again attached to the district council. The battle for survival took a turn for the worse three months ago when the PTI government reintroduced the district government system, leaving the committee without patronage.

In debt

As the district council ceased to exist, the Haripur TMA refused to share the financial burden of the Khalabat municipality which was left sans resources and had over 150 staff and 40 pensioners to pay apart from fuel and electricity bills.

According to Khalabat Township Baldia Ittehad Union President Muhammad Shafi, workers went unpaid for the last three months. He said filling stations stopped supplying diesel to garbage collecting tractor trolleys and fire brigades as the KMC owes Rs4.1 million to the pumps.

At the same time, KMC owes Rs7.5 million to Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) as electricity dues for 16 tube wells and streetlights.

“How will our staff collect tonnes of solid waste on a daily basis and cope with fire accidents?” Shafi asked. He said union members decided to stop sanitation work in the first phase and the second phase of their agitation would see the workers suspend water supply to the area. He added the responsibility for law and order would be on the provincial government.



When approached for comments, PML-N Khalabat Township MNA Babar Nawaz Khan condemned the decision of stopping funding to the KMC. He pointed out the people living in the Khalabat Township sacrificed their fertile land and the graves of their ancestors, but the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government denied them basic civic services in return.

He said the billions received by the provincial government in the form of royalty were the fruit of these sacrifices. He slammed the PTI government for not allowing the people of the area to get free water which his father, the late Akhtar Nawaz Khan, had gotten approved from the Muttahida Majlise-e-Amal government.

Babar Nawaz vowed to lead a protest if the PTI government did not release funds for KMC.

District naib nazim Agha Shabbir said KMC’s income generation was far less than the expenses it was forced to incur. Haripur DC Tasleem Khan confirmed KMC’s financial crisis, adding the committee had few sources to match its monthly expenses of over
Rs3 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th,  2015.