Dasu power project: Angry residents protest appointment of non-locals

MANSEHRA: The people took to the streets and blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) to traffic for over an hour on Friday against the appointment of non-locals at 4300 mega-watts Dasu Hydropower Project being executed in the district headquarters of Upper Kohistan.

“The Wapda had signed an agreement with us when it acquired land for this mega energy project that labourers and non-technical staff would be inducted only from Kohistan but now deviated from its commitments,” Bakht Boland, the former nazim, told participants of the rally.

The rally was taken out from the Kamila Bazaar and the participants assembled on the court premises in Dasu after marching through various roads.

Holding banners and placards, the protesters chanted slogans in support of their demands and against the Wapda.

Bakht Boland said that the people of Upper Kohistan, particularly of Dasu, had rendered great sacrifices for the national cause but were not given jobs in the project despite assurance.

“The prime minister wants early completion of the project but the Wapda is creating hurdles in its way,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, former nazims Siraj Khan, Ziaullah and Arbab Khan said they would take extreme steps if the Wapda didn’t expel all the non-locals.

Siraj Khan said that they didn’t want to create hurdles in smooth execution of the mega emergency project but would not remain silent over injustices being done with the people. “We will again come onto the streets on December 15, if the Wapda didn’t honour the agreement which it had signed with them in 2016,” he added.