MKP vows to resist hydropower projects on canals

CHARSADDA: The farmers in Charsadda and other districts on Thursday assailed the Irrigation Department for issuance of non-objection certificate (NOC) to the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) for constructing hydropower projects on canals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“We will resist tooth and nail the proposed mini-hydropower projects as it will destroy the irrigation system in the province thus inflicting heavy losses on the growers in the province,” Shamas Khan, the central president of Mazdoor Kissan Party, said in a statement here.

The Mazdoor Kissan Party had earlier convened a meeting of farmers from Charsadda and other districts, including Mardan, Kohat, Malakand, Bannu and others, to discuss the possible repercussions of the proposed projects and the imminent threat to the livelihood of farmers.Shamas Khan said that farmers across the province had rejected the mini-hydropower projects to be launched by PEDO and termed it an economic murder of the poor growers.

He said that Pakistan’s 22 percent GDP was based on agriculture while the best farming output was the result of canal systems that irrigate vast swaths of area across the province. He said that materialization of such projects was detrimental to ruining the farming sector, which will be opposed at all costs.

He said that projects in question were being initiated without consulting the agriculture and irrigation departments and the farmers, who would be the ultimate sufferers if implemented.He announced to organize a protest sit-in against the KP government, Irrigation Department and an international bank that would provide funds for the proposed projects.