MUZAFFARABAD: A civil society alliance on Thursday asked the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government and the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) to take “concrete steps” before the end of next month to address “widely prevailing concerns” about environmental degradation and other issues created by a mega power project in Muzaffarabad, in accordance with their verbal commitments.

Speaking at a press conference, office bearers of the Save River, Save Muzaffarabad (SRSM) committee announced that in default of substantial measures, they would hold a grand public meeting in Muzaffarabad on July 29 to reaffirm their opposition to the “inhuman act of diversion of rivers in the name of prosperity and progress”.

“At the said meeting, we will also expose with the help of solid proof those elected representatives and civil servants who are engaged in bartering our future for fiscal gains and thus pushing our future generations on the path of destruction,” said Raja Amjad Ali Khan, the committee’sspokesperson.

Save River, Save Muzaffarabad committee announces they will hold public meeting

He was flanked by dozens of other activists, including trader leader Shaukat Nawaz Mir.

The SRSM committee had organised a peaceful sit-in for 84 days at a bustling roundabout near the press club “to create awareness about the environmental hazards of Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) and proposed Kohala Hydropower Project (KHP) as well as criminal negligence and intransigence of Wapda regarding mitigation measures.”

However, Mr Khan said, the sit-in camp was uprooted by the administration and police in the dead of night and 23 activists, including him, were taken into a custody “in a conspiracy to deteriorate law and order situation in the capital.”

Mr Khan claimed that before the “unwarranted” police action, the [AJK] government had agreed that it would issue a formal notification to include SRSM committee representatives in all meetings at the federal level on these matters.

“The police action was aimed at sabotaging the whole process but we frustrated the conspiracy by keeping our temper.”

In response to a question about a demonstration by expatriates in front of the Pakistan High Commission London on June 18, Mr Khan maintained that it was a natural reaction to the police action in Muzaffarabad.

“Its responsibility lies on those who swooped on the peaceful sit-in camp as well as on those who instigated them for it.”

Mr Khan claimed that the SRSM committee was in contact with Kashmiri expatriates in around eight important foreign cities who would be activated in the event of non-acceptance of demands by July 29.

According to him, almost all political leaders, including the AJK prime minister and chief secretary, had repeatedly upheld the demands of SRSM committee as “legitimate and just”.

Nevertheless, the concerned federal institutions were unprepared to sign agreements with the AJK government on power projects, he said and added: “This shows how much they value us.”

Mr Khan alleged that the Chinese company engaged to build KHP had prepared “packages for everyone who mattered in AJK – including the prime minister and SRSM committee office bearers.”

“It’s yet to be seen as to who among us backs out of the charter of demands with regard to KHP,” he said

Asserting that none of the SRSM committee members could be bought off, Mr Khan maintained that those who had deserted the committee “had been compelled to do so for some other reasons”.

Referring to an alleged Transparency International letter of 2012, he said that awarding a mega project to any particular company without international bidding was a glaring proof of the story of kickbacks and corruption.

“We will also write a letter to the army chief on how some people use the name of the army to intimidate the patriotic people and cover up their corruption,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the AJK government on Thursday issued a notification whereby a three-member committee comprising SRSM committee activists Haroon Riaz Mughal, Faisal Jamil Kashmiri and Tufail Aziz was constituted for “coordination on NJHP and KHP”.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2019