June 21, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 16, 1429

MIRPUR, June 20: The government has raised the compensatory amount from Rs18 billion to Rs54 billion for disbursement among the people affected by the raising of the country’s second biggest reservoir, Mangla Dam.

This was disclosed by Commissioner Mangla Dam Affairs Engineer Chaudhry Ameer Afzal while talking to a delegation of Britain-based affected persons, who called on him in his office here on Friday.

Mr Afzal said construction work on raising of Mangla Dam would be completed by the end of next year.

According to him, the phased process of rehabilitation of the affected persons is being carried out swiftly and Rs27 billion have so far been disbursed among them in the form of compensatory amount against their affected properties.

He said Rs4.5 billion greater water supply and sewerage, and Mirpur-Islamgarh cable-stay bridge project had been launched in the wake of Mangla Dam raising project.

Mr Afzal said Rs1.61 billion had been disbursed among the old dam affected people, adding that proprietary rights had also been granted to 255 out of total of 442 old victims based in Punjab province.

Similarly, proprietary rights have also been transferred to 526 out of 656 Sindh province-based Mangla dam affected persons.

The commissioner told the that process of allotment of residential plots among the affected persons in New Mirpur Garden City and four towns, one each at Islamgarh, Chakswari, Siakh and Dadayal would start soon after completion of the project. He said the government had established a 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 contracts had 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 centres in various residential sectors, a community centre, a gymnasium, a police station and toilets at seven major public places in New Mirpur city.—APP