MANSEHRA: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has asked the district administration of Mansehra to take all possible measures to complete the New Balakot City (NBC) housing project, which is being developed with a cost of Rs13 billion to settle the residents of earthquake red zone of Balakot.

“Mr Khattak has ordered the district administration to retrieve the project land for which the government has already paid land and building compensations to the landowners at Bakrial, the site for NBC,” said deputy commissioner, Mansehra, Zulfiqar Shah while talking to mediapersons on Friday.

Mr Shah said that the chief minister held a meeting with the representatives of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra), residents of red zone Balakot and district police officer in Peshawar on Thursday.

The DC said that he would ask the landowners of Bakrial within a couple of days to vacate the land for which they had already got compensation. He said that once the project was completed the landowners would also get plots there.

He said that the government had already paid Rs1.2 billion to the landowners at Bakrial, but they were still creating hurdles to the project, which was earlier scheduled to be completed in 2010.

He said that because of the delay the Oct 2005 earthquake-affected people were still facing residential problems.

The DC said that according to the Erra record, hardly 15 per cent land of the project could be developed. He said that Balakot hospital, which was destroyed in earthquake, could not be reconstructed as yet and now on the chief minister’s orders the abandoned piece of land owned by the communication and works department would be acquired for the construction of hospital.

He said that the government was also considering upgrading a rural health centre to the status of civil hospital as the residents of Balakot urgently needed health services.

Saith Matiullah, the president of hoteliers association of Kaghan valley, said that the chief minister showed keen interest in promoting tourism in Hazara.

FIR REGISTERED: The police on Friday registered FIR against miscreants who allegedly tortured staffers of civil hospital of Garhi Habibullah.

The report was registered on the complaint of SHO Jehanzeb Khan against Mohammad Mumtaz, Mohammad Tanveer and others. When contacted, president of doctors association Dr Iftikhar Zaidi said that they had withdrawn the strike call after the action.

POWER SUPPLY DEMANDED: The people of Upper Kohistan on Friday blocked the Karakoram Highway for two hours, demanding electricity supply to Dasu, the district headquarters, and Kamila.

Earlier, the protesters gathered at the main bazaar and chanted slogans against the government and Wapda.

“We would continue our protest till the government provides electricity to Dasu and Kamila,” said Maulana Mohammad Ali while speaking at the gathering. He said that the government should immediately restart work on the power supply project so that people of Upper Kohistan could be provided electricity before the start of summer.

The protesters also constituted a 24-member committee to take up the issue with the government.

ANNIVERSARY: The transporters of Hazara would observe wheel jam strike while private schools would remain closed on Saturday (today) to mark the fourth anniversary of the tragic incident of April 12, 2010 when seven unarmed protesters demanding a separate province of Hazara were shot dead by police in Abbottabad.

Traders and political parties would also take out rallies here on Saturday to demand early work for a separate province of Hazara.