Hydropower project: Officials start demolishing structures in Balakot

MANSEHRA: The tehsil administration in Balakot has demolished several structures in the Sungar area, which were acquired for the construction of 300-megawatts Balakot Hydropower Project.

“The tehsil administration razed some houses whose owners, despite having received payment, were unwilling to vacate. Others left voluntarily,” Rashid Khan, councillor from Sungar village council, told reporters on Saturday.

A joint team comprising officials from the tehsil administration and police, led by Assistant Commissioner Nadar Khan and Deputy Superintendent of Police Balakot Nisar Sadaqat, carried out the operation using heavy machinery to level the structures.

“The team also gave a final opportunity to several other occupants to vacate their homes voluntarily before proceeding with the demolitions,” Khan said.

He added that the 300MW Balakot Hydropower Project was progressing well, with over 800 kanals of land already acquired in Sungar by the district administration for the dam and related infrastructure.

“The government plans to build a residential colony for Chinese engineers and workers involved in the project,” he said.

Rashid Khan, who also serves on a joint committee formed by the local community and the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (PEDO) to resolve dam-related matters, said that compensation for land acquired in Kaghan valley and the rest of Balakot had already been disbursed by the district administration.

However, a group of Sungar residents claimed that though they had received payment for their land, compensation for their houses and kitchen package had yet to be cleared.

“The administration has paid us for the land, but we have still been waiting for payments for our houses and kitchen package,” one of the affected residents told reporters.

The Balakot Hydropower Project is the largest hydroelectric initiative being executed by PEDO anywhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.