Residents of Upper Kohistan staged a sit-in outside the deputy commissioner’s office on Monday, observing a shutter-down and wheel-jam strike in Komila bazaar against the Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) failure to honour its commitments on the 4,700MW Dasu Hydropower Project.
The Dasu dam affectees’ committee gave the sit-in call. A day prior, it brought hundreds of protesters, including traders and transporters, to shut down businesses and observe a shutter-down strike across Upper Kohistan.
The protesters marched in Komila and Dasu bazaars while carrying banners, and placards inscribed with their demands and shouted slogans against Wapda and its management.
Hafeez Ur Rehman, a committee leader, told Dawn.com that months of meetings with Wapda had yielded only hollow promises.
“Wapda agreed to our 13 demands but it failed to fulfil them, forcing us to t to take to the streets again,” he emphasised.
The demands of the Dasu project affectees included compensation for houses demolished for the dam’s construction, stove compensation, hospital construction for the local population, and job provision for locals and their recruitment in the project operation.
They also demanded an increase in development funds for Upper Kohistan, allocation of one per cent of DHPP income for local uplift, commercial rates for areas near the Karakoram Highway, and the establishment of new schools, colleges, and a university in the district.
Hafeezur Rehman said the affectees never opposed the project but sacrificed their properties and bore hardships so that the project was completed successfully, benefiting the entire country.
He said the sit-in continued and would continue unless Wapda management practically accepted their demands one step further from the paper agreements as they had inked several agreements so far.
Khuram Rehman Jadoon, additional deputy commissioner, Upper Kohistan, told Dawn.com, “The protesters staged a sit-in outside our office although their issue is relevant to Wapda.”
“Their issue is with DHPP, so its officials could address their demands,” he said.
On the other hand, the protest in Chilas of Gilgit Baltistan entered its ninth day, with demonstrators demanding rights as affectees of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam. They have presented a 31-point charter addressing issues like compensation and resettlement.
Minister for Kashmir and GB affairs, Amir Muqam, on Sunday, visited the protesters in Chilas and assured them that their issues would be addressed with priority since Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had formed a committee for reviewing the demands.
Muqam had requested the protesters to end their sit-in, however, they continued it which entered the ninth day today.
Two mega power projects by the World Bank were being built in Kohistan Upper of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan’s Diamer areas.
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