Diamer-Bhasha dam affectees stage sit-in on KKH

MANSEHRA: The affectees of 4500 megawatts Diamer-Bhasha Hydropower Project on Tuesday staged a sit-in on the Karakoram Highway (KKH) to demand the settlement of boundary dispute between the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan in accordance with agreement reached between the elders of both sides.

“Because of the delay in issuance of an order by the federal government regarding the settlement of the boundary dispute the landowners of Kohistan are deprived of their compensation money and other incentives from Wapda,” Assadullah Quraishi, the tehsil chairman of Harban, told the protesters.

The protesters staged a sit-in at the KKH at Harban Bhasha area and raised slogans in support of their demands.

The passengers travelling within the Kohistan district and between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan remained stranded for many hours.

Quraishi said that the successive jirgas held between elders of Harban (Kohistan) and Thor (Chilas) and backed by both KP and G-B governments settled the boundary issue between both federating units last year but its notification was yet to be issued.

He said that the jirga had also evolved a formula to pay compensation (diyat) money to families of four tribe of Harban who were people killed in bloody clashes with Thor tribes over the boundary dispute in 2014.

“We will not end our sit-in until our all demands are met and compensation amount is paid to the affectees,” he said.

The disputed territory of about 8-km is under control of the federal governments and rangers have been patrolling on the Karakoram Highway since 2014, when four people were killed in an exchange of fire between Harban and Thor tribes over the dispute.