ISLAMABAD, March 13: Speakers at a conference here on Monday asked the government to stop work on the “controversial project”, and sought UN intervention as according to them the dam site falls in the terrotory of the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan region.

“The construction of the dam is illegal as the site is constitutionally not part of Pakistan”, they maintained.

The roundtable on “Disputed Diamer-Bhasha dam: concerns and apprehensions of affected parties” was organized by the All Parties National Alliance (APNA), a conglomerate of 23 nationalist parties and individuals from Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The speakers condemned President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s announcement to construct the dam in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan.

They said the decision to start work on the project had been taken without extensive valuation of commercial, political, environmental and socio-political issues inherent in the project.

They feared that the project would displace some 40,000 people whose homes, and the ancient town of Chilas would submerge in the dam water.

The speakers said the project failed to meet basic international standards with regard to geopolitical sensitivity, resettlement and environment. No environmental impact assessment has been undertaken for the project, they added.

“The project will cause environmental deterioration not only in the Northern Areas but also in the rest of the country. The world’s biggest glaciers in the region will melt away. The glaciers last longer in dry air but the dam will cause an increase in atmospheric moisture,” said a participant.

The dam would create a basin of 150 kilometre. Chilas, the district headquarters of Diamer with Aryan and Buddhist monuments such as Chilas-Thalpan complex, rock carvings, ruins of Chilas/Archaemenide period settlements and Shing Nala that attracted thousands of tourists every year, would disappear for ever.

The participants expressed the fear that the dam would also create conflicts between Gilgit-Baltistan and its neighbouring Kohistan district of NWFP over the sharing of water and hydal power net profit/royalty.

“The construction of Bhasha dam without the consent of the local people and other stakeholders is just another act of extension of authoritarian rule by Pakistan in the region,” said APNA secretary-general Dr Ghulam Abbas.

The conference demanded of the government to adopt standards that applied equally to all its projects in Azad Kashmir. The standards should reflect best international practices taking into account human rights, environmental, cultural heritage, gender and development impacts.

Given the urgent need for development, democracy and self- governance in the region, a declaration said the UN should intervene and ask the government to fulfil its obligations under the UN resolutions for ensuring the language, cultural and political rights of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.

The government should restrain from changing the geo-political boundary of Gilgit-Baltistan, it said, adding that Bhasha was not part of NWFP.