NOWSHERA, Sept 8: Residents of eight villages of Nowshera district have threatened to organize a protest demonstration and stage sit-ins if they are not paid compensation for the lands acquired for the construction of the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway (M-I).

Speaking at a press conference here on Monday, the villagers’ representatives said that they would not allow the construction firm to carry out work on the motorway project if the National Highways Authority failed to pay the residents compensation for their lands. Those who spoke on the occasion included PPP leader Sarfaraz Khan and Master Shamsher Khan.

The villages are: Mian Essa, Mughalkai, Meeshak, Ali Mohammad, Mera Marhati Banda, Misri Banda, Zaramena and Mera Misri Banda.

“The motorway project has affected thousands of people in the eight villages of the district as both the construction firm and the NHA have failed to pay them compensation for the fertile lands they acquired for the project,” the villagers said.

They said the farmers had been deprived by the NHA authorities of their only source of livelihood since 1997 when the lands were acquired for the project.

They said that the farmers of Mardan and Swabi, whose lands had been earmarked for the motorway, had been paid by the NHA, while those belonging to Nowshera district had been compelled to run from pillar to post for this purpose.

They said that their case file was lying with the district revenue officer for the last three months, but the official did not take any action to resolve the matter. They laid claim to compensation for 12 crops.

The villagers also criticized the members of provincial and national assemblies belonging to Nowshera, saying the elected representatives did not raise any voice for their rights on the assemblies’ floors.

They further said that the NHA had purchased the land in the Torlandi area for Rs6,000 a marla, that of Nawabzada Attaullah Khan of Toru for Rs 7,000 a marla and the land near the Misri Banda by-pass for Rs7,000 a marla six years ago. Now, they said, the NHA was devising some new formula to grab the land from the poor farmers.

They said that if their genuine grievances were not redressed, they would forcefully stop the work on the motorway project and launch an agitation for their rights.