QUETTA: Political activists and civil society representatives took out a huge rally in the Winder town of Hub district to protest against what they called the illegal allotment of land to the non-natives.

The dispute was over 15,000 acres of land in the command area of the under-construction Winder Dam. The rally was arranged by the Winder Action Committee in which the protesters carried placards and chanted slogans against the government and officials of the department concerned which had allotted the land. The National Assembly member from the area, Muhammad Aslam Bhootani and leaders of the PPP, National Party, JUI-F and Balochistan National Party led the rally.

Mr Bhootani said the “illegal allotment” of 15,000 acres of agricultural land would hurt the rights of the locals as the dam was being constructed to benefit the people of Hub and Lasbela districts.

He said the “allotment of prime land” is a big injustice to the locals at a time when the dam’s construction was about to be completed.

While questioning the move, he asked why the land was not allocated to the people of Winder and instead handed over to those who do not belong to the area.

He also claimed added that those who were displaced due to the construction of Winder dam were not adequately compensated.

The independent lawmaker added that political parties would never compromise on the rights of the people of Hub and Lasbela districts.

He said that the government had also leased out 45,000 acres of land to the Thatta Cement factory in Lasbela.

“Our case is under trial in the court and we are hopeful that justice will be done,” he said while referring to the case filed against the allotment in Lasbela.

The Winder dam project was approved in 2011 and then president Asif Ali Zardari had performed its ground-breaking, but work only started in 2021.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2023