MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has tasked the National Engineering Services Pakistan Limited (Nespak), a private limited company, with developing the New Balakot City for the survivors of the 2005 earthquake.

“Under public-private partnership, the government has handed over the NBC project to the Nespak, which wants to develop it as a tourism hub andoffer plots or their costs to the 2005 earthquake surviving families, which live in prefabricated houses in Balakot Red Zone,” an official of the Commissioner’s House told Dawn on Monday.

The decision to engage the Nespak for the project was made during a meeting held on June 10 with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the chair.

Earthquake survivors renew call for plot allotments

The participants included the commissioner of Hazara division and chairmen of the National Disaster Management Authority and the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority. The commissioner was told to finalise modalities for the project’s execution under public-private partnership.

The official said the meeting decided that the number of NBC plots would be increased from 4,500 to 6,500 if earthquake survivors were willing to pay their costs.

He said the Nespak floated the NBC development programme in that meeting and sought the possession of 4,000 kanals of the forest department’s land already acquired by the district administration for the project.

The official said the Nespak also declared that if the families showed willingness, it would pay them a handsome amount for their plots. It sought the commissioner’s help for the purpose.

However, the payment request was rejected.

Mian Ashraf, president of the Tehreek-i-Tahafuzz-i-Balakot, told the commissioner in a meeting that the organisation was given time to take up the offer with the earthquake surviving families as ‘sincere and great’ one under the current circumstances.

“The earthquake survivors have unanimously rejected the payment offer saying they won’t sell their land and want the early issuance of plot allotment letters in accordance with the Supreme Court’s verdict announced on Jan 9, 2019,” he said.

In view of the prolonged delay in the New Balakot City housing project’s completion due to financial and other constraints, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in 2020 to develop the proposed city through public-private partnership and turn it into a tourism hub for people within the country and abroad.

Military ruler General Pervez Musharraf had laid the foundation stone of the New Balakot housing project in 2007. The project was scheduled to be completed in five years but it is still in the doldrums.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2021