HARIPUR, Nov 20: Minister of State for Finance Omer Ayub Khan said on Saturday that he would never compromise on the water rights of Haripur district and allow any one to render the fertile land barren.

Speaking at a news conference at his office here about the proposed Rs1.3 billion gravity flow system water supply project on river Dorr for Abbottabad, he said persistent drought in the catchment areas of the river had affected agriculture in Haripur and a cut in its share would harm the farmers' interest. The Japan International Cooperation Agency is funding the project.

Referring to a survey conducted recently by a chief engineer of the irrigation department, Mr Khan said the flow of the river was recorded at 46 cusecs in district Haripur against the 246 cusecs guaranteed under the Rawaj-i-Abpashi.

He expressed the apprehension that the diversion of seven cusecs for the proposed scheme would have an adverse impact on agriculture and the sanitation system in Haripur.

He denied reports that he had consented to the scheme at a meeting presided over by NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah.

However, he said, if the district government had any proposal to resolve the dispute by removing the apprehensions of the people of Haripur, he was ready to discuss that at a proper forum.

He lamented that the Abbottabad government had not sent any such proposal to the district or tehsil government of Haripur before launching a media war against those representatives who were struggling to protect the rights of local people.

Speaking on the occasion, Anjuman Zameendaran President Malik Gohar Rehman threatened that if the Abbottabad government continued to press for the implementation of the project without addressing the apprehensions of the people of Haripur, they would protest for securing their right on river Dorr water.