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The affected people of Diamer-Bhasha dam project on Sunday protested against the construction of the dam without addressing their reservations.
A large number of people from Diamer District of the Northern Areas, who would be displaced or affected once the dam is constructed along with the area students gathered in front of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club's camp office and demanded of the government to address their reservations prior to initiating the controversial mega project.
Diamer-Bhasha dam costing $6.5 billion would have 6.3 million acres ft reservoir capacity and would generate 4,500-megawatt inexpensive electricity to meet the national power needs. Besides, the dam will provide safety from floods to lower areas; protect ecology and boost agriculture with regular water supply to rivers.
The project has remained controversial from the very first day due to its previous name 'Bhasah Dam' and distribution formula of its royalty between NWFP and Northern Areas.
However, last year, the government renamed the dam as 'Diamer-Bhasah Dam' accepting the demands of the people of Northern Areas but other basic demands of the area people are yet to be materialised.
The protesters contended that over 24,000 population of the Diamer district is likely to be either displaced or affected once the dam is built. Besides, they also opined that the power house of the dam has been planned at Bhasha, which falls in the jurisdiction of NWFP to convert the royalty of dam to the province.
They recalled that President Pervez Musharraf had promised to give them a compensation package of Rs300,000 per household but it was also not fulfilled.
These victims demanded of the government to allot them a separate sector in Islamabad where they would be settled. They contended that the people of Mirpur, Azad Kashmir were settled in London after their displacement due to the Manglla Dam project and people of Diamer should also be treated in the same way.
They warned of hunger strike in front of Parliament House if their genuine demands were not met immediately. Those who led the protest include Attaullah, President of the Affectees of the dam, Himayatullah, General Secretary, members, Mohammad Jalal, Najeebullah, Abdul Hakeem, Abdul Mateen, Mohammad Shafiq, Saifullah, Abdul Aziz and Basharatullah.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2008

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