Commissioner Mangla Dam Resettlement Organisation Engineer Chaudhry Amir Afzal said on Saturday that the process for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the victims of the ongoing Mangla Dam raising project would start soon.
The process for rehabilitation will also involve special focus to extend maximum relief through compensation in line with the already determined mass rehabilitation programme set by the government, the commissioner told a delegation of Mangla Dam victims at adjoining Islamgarh town during visit of the new under construction town at Islamgarh.
Project Director Mangla Dam Raising Project Muhammad and Chief Engineer Wapda Muhammad Hanif said that 50 percent of the construction work on ongoing Mangla Dam raising project has so far completed. He said that the pace of the construction was being stepped up. The commissioner said that new Islamgarh town was close to its completion. He said that Wapda was actively involved for the development of plots at the town comprising all latest civic amenities. He said that allotment of plots will start soon after the completion of the development works including the under-construction roads and water and electricity supply and sewerage.
He said that the procedure of allotment was being inked. He said that a separate allotment authority will be set up soon after the settlement of the allotment. The allotment will be made entirely through secret ballot.
Amir Afzal said that the proposed mega project of over Rs one billion two-km long Mirpur-Islamgarh cable-stay bridge or Rathua-Harriyarn bridge over Mangla Dam lake was currently in process and construction work on the project will be executed soon after completion of the ongoing paper work. He said that the bridge, being constructed under Mangla Dam raising project mass incentives package for people of Mirpur, will provide a short-distance travel between Mirpur city and adjoining Islamgarh town by reducing the existing long distance to an unprecedented extent.
Afzal said that the compensatory amount of Rs 10 billion has so far been disbursed among victims of the raising project. Besides, Rs 1.53 billion have so far been disbursed among over 75 percent old Mangla Dam victims. Process of entertaining the old and new Mangla dam (raising project) victims was continuing. He said that only 87 cases of Mangla Dam victims were so far left in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.