LAHORE, March 29: The Punjab government will soon start allotting land to people who have been displaced by Chashma Barrage and Atomic Energy Complex in Mianwali district.

Revenue minister Gul Hameed Khan Rokhari and colonies minister Manazir Ali Ranjha told a meeting here on Saturday that problems of people whose land was acquired for the Chashma Barrage and the Atomic Energy Complex in Mianwali, should be solved at the earliest.

Besides representatives of the victims, Mianwali district Nazim Omair Hayat Rokhari, MPA Hafeezullah Khan, Board of Revenue senior member Ziaur Rahman, member (colonies) Javed Aslam, revenue secretary Nasrullah Chattha and colonies secretary Mohammad Yasrab Hajra also attended the meeting.

With the second phase of the Chashma power plant likely to start in near future, the government wants to settle the cases of those affected by the first phase of the project.

The meeting decided that all those victims who had not yet been allotted land for rehabilitation would immediately be allotted 10-marla plots.

The legal heirs of the land owners who had applied for the scheme before 1987 and died later on, would also be allotted plots, it was decided.

The meeting however decided that the people provisionally cultivating scheduled land would not be granted ownership rights.

The finance department would be approached for ascertaining prices of the land acquired for the schemes.

These cases were not finalised for want of an estimate of land price and determination of legal heirs of the victims who had transferred their lands to sons and other relatives.

The meeting resolved to complete the task within one and a half months.

The Mianwali executive district officer for revenue was given three months for re-verification of the remaining cases of Atomic Energy Complex victims.

Mr Rokhari told the EDO that he must complete all the 200-plus cases within the stipulated period, and the victims should be given ownership of their respective plots as soon as their cases were finalised.

Mr Ranjha assured victims’ representatives that all would get their due share of the state land in Mianwali, Bhakkar, Khushab and other districts.