MUZAFFARGARH: A large number of residents of village Basti Khudai near Head Mohammedwala held a protest on Friday against the acquisition of their agricultural land for installation of a 600 megawatt solar power plant by the government.

The affected people raised slogans during the protest against the government and the solar power project for which hundreds of acres of their land is being acquired.

The victims said the government wanted to buy their land at a very low price and they would not accept it as they were earning their livelihood from it and if the government acquired their land, it would be akin to snatching their livelihood from them.

The protesters claimed that the government decided to pay only Rs220,000 per acre, which was the cost of only levelling the field during the last few years. In the area of their village where the plant was going to be installed, the land was fertile having orchards and crops and added that the government was offering only a nominal price for their land and they did not want to sell it.

They suggested to the government to install the solar power plant on thousands of acres of its own land lying vacant in districts of Muzaffargarh and Kot Addu.

The villagers appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to shift the solar panel plant to another place to save their land.

The district administration of Muzaffargarh claimed that some area of the government land was included in the project and the district administration would pay the cost of land as per its price. It said the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) had acquired 2,553 acres for setting up the 600MW solar power project in Muzaffargarh.

Deputy Commissioner Mian Usman Ali said the land was acquired through the revenue department and the cost had been decided according to the law.

He said some area of Basti Khudai in district Muzaffargarh was a part of the project while the area from the district Kot Addu was also being acquired.

According to NTDC spokesperson, the 600MW solar power project would be installed at tehsil Chowk Sarwar Shaheed of Muzaffargarh. He said the project would help reduce dependence on expensive electricity and added that the land was being acquired in Layyah and Jhang districts for two more similar projects.

A solar project of 1,200MW would be installed in Layyah and 600MW in Jhang districts while land had been purchased in both these districts.

“These three projects will generate 2,400MW solar energy,” he added.

The spokesman said 2,553 acre land had been acquired in tehsil Chowk Sarwar Shaheed and work on the project would start soon.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2024