ISLAMABAD: As the deadline of December 2021 to complete Daducha Dam comes nearer, the affected owners of the land meant for the major water reservoir have approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench seeking an increase in the compensation.

The landowners through their counsel Barrister Sardar Abdul Razziq filed a petition in the LHC against the acquisition of their land at the rate of Rs75,000 per kanal.

According to the petitioners, the area is adjacent to Defence Housing Authority (DHA) schemes, Bahria Town and the Industrial Area and the cost of per kanal land there is Rs5 million per kanal.

The petitioners contended that the government had decided to acquire 220 kanals located in Dadhar and Mangot at Rs75,000 per kanal.

LHC Justice Muzammil Akhtar Shabbir after preliminary hearing issued notice to the district administration of Rawalpindi and sought its reply.

Say cost of land in area is Rs5m per kanal but govt is acquiring their property for Rs75,000 per kanal

The construction of Daducha Dam lingered for over one and a half decades.

In 2002, a pre-feasibility study of the site was carried out by the Small Dams Organisation which remained under consideration. A notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 was issued on Nov 3, 2010, to secure the land.

The area is part of Kahuta, Kallar Syedan and Rawalpindi tehsils of Rawalpindi district.

In 2006, the DHA purchased 18,000 kanals near Rawalpindi where the dam was to be built, and launched a housing scheme as a joint venture (JV) with Bahria Town. The DHA Valley scheme meant for the bereaved families of martyred military personnel was proposed at the dam site.

On Aug 4, 2015, the SC in a suo motu case directed the Punjab government to construct the dam at the originally proposed site. Soon after the directive, the provincial government banned the sale and purchase of land in the area and later allocated funds for the construction of the dam in its annual development plan for 2017-18.

On SC’s directives, the Punjab government in 2017 initiated the process to construct the dam at a cost of Rs7 billion to overcome the water shortage in Rawalpindi.

In 2018, DHA, Bahria Town and Habib Rafiq Private Limited offered construction of the dam on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. The Pujab government rejected the offer and submitted areport to the apex court against the proposed construction of the joint venture.

The report noted that instead of the government rate for the land, the JV had estimated the price of the land on the basis of its investment in the housing scheme, DHA Valley, which was lying dormant for over a decade.

As per the PC-I, the land acquisition was to cost Rs2.8bn whereas the JV had proposed Rs26.7bn which was to be borne by the provincial government. Moreover, the JV would bear Rs3.5 billion cost for the construction of the dam.

The feasibility study for the dam was approved in 2013-14 after which the irrigation department hired consultants for the purpose.

With the completion of the project, Wasa would be able to supply 25 million gallon water per day to the residents of Rawalpindi and its adjoining areas. The total capacity of water storage in the dam is 60 feet, while the dead level has been estimated at 15 feet level.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2020