The government has raised the compensatory amount from Rs 18 billion to Rs 54 billion for disbursement among the victims of under-construction project of the raising of the country's second biggest reservoir, Mangla dam.
This was disclosed by Commissioner Mangla Dam Affairs Engr. Chaudhry Ameer Afzal while addressing a delegation of Britain-based Mangla dam victims who called on him in his office here on Friday.
Afzal said that construction work on raising of Mangla dam will be completed by the end of next year. He said that the phased process of rehabilitation of the dam victims was swiftly underway and Rs 27 billion have so far been disbursed among the victims in form of compensatory amount against their affected properties, he added. He revealed that Rs 4.50 billion greater water supply and sewerage and Mirpur-Islamagarh cable-stay bridge project have been launched in the wake of Mangla dam raising project.
Amir Afzal said that Rs 1.61 billion have been disbursed among the old dam victims. He further said that proprietary rights of the properties have been granted to 255 out of total of 442 old dam victims based in Punjab province. Similarly proprietary rights of the properties have also been transferred to 526 out of 656 Sindh province-based Mangla dam victims.
The commissioner said that since a total of 113 villages are to be affected due to raising of the dam, the government has awarded the victims hailing from 111 villages with the total of the financial relief of Rs 24 billion. Besides, another amount of Rs 195 million has been distributed among the victims against a total of 412 residential and commercial buildings in the aforesaid villages.
The commissioner told that process of allotment of residential plots among the victims in New Mirpur garden city and four towns, one each at Islamgagh, Chakswari, Siakh and Dadayal will be started soon after completion of raising of the dam. He said the government has established housing authority exclusively to execute the job of allotment of plots among the displaced families.
Referring to the pace of construction work on various projects of public utilisation in New Mirpur city, the commissioner said that contracts have been awarded for the construction of two degree college buildings, four schools, six primary schools a central mosque, six sector mosques, 21 houses, a fire station, a post office, a hospital, six basic health units, a central trade centre, six shopping centers in various residential sectors, a community center, a gymnasium, a police station and seven major toilets at public places in New Mirpur city. Besides, a grand Rs 30.5 million vocational training center was also being established in New Mirpur city. He said that the center has, however, started working in a rented building in the new city.