GILGIT: Thousands of people protested against the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in Diamer, Gilgit Baltistan, for not compensating locals for their land acquired to build the Diamer-Bhasha Dam.

The protesters gathered in the airport area in Chilas, the district headquarters of Diamer, over the weekend on the call of people displaced due to the dam’s construction, as well as religious scholars.

They accused Wapda of reneging on its commitments and gave the authority a week’s time to meet their demands. Otherwise, the dam’s construction will be stopped, the protesters warned.

The protesters claimed that Wapda had acquired 18,000 acres of land without paying compensation to local owners.

Protesters accuse Wapda of not employing locals at construction site

They claimed that land owned by locals was declared state property for the dam’s construction.

The Wapda “didn’t pay adequate compensation” to land owners and demanded immediate reparation.

According to the protesters, Wapda didn’t fulfil its commitment to provide jobs to locals at the Diamer Bhasha Dam site.

Initially, Wapda had to appoint local people to posts from grade 1 to grade 16. However, the decision was “not implemented”.

The protesters demanded jobs for locals at the dam site and said local contractual employees of Wapda should be made permanent immediately.

According to the protesters, the government had announced a compensation of Rs4.7 million for each of the over 4,200 affected families, while Wapda had promised six kanal land for each family who would displaced after the dam’s construction.

They claimed that over 2,000 affected were still awaiting the payment under the package.

They demanded compensation at today’s market rate and the immediate allotment of “promised land”.

They said over 4,000 families in Diamer have “sacrificed their everything: lands, homes, agriculture” for the future of Pakistan.

The protesters said other financial programmes for the rehabilitation of displaced people have not been implemented.

A large number of activists from PPP, PML-N, PTI, JUI-F, regional organisations and youth groups attended the demonstration on Monday.

The protesters chanted slogans such as “Give Rights, Build the Dam” during the demonstration led by religious scholars of Diamer.

GB assembly member from Diamer, Shah Baig, who is also the region’s forest minister, and Muhammad Anwar, the agriculture minister, also joined the demonstration and expressed solidarity with the protesters.

Addressing the protest, Mr Anwar, who was elected from Chilas, said the Diamer Bhasha Dam was a mega project.

He said the locals’ demands were genuine and that his government would “stand with the people”.

Mr Baig vowed to go to every extent against Wapda. “We will never compromise on the rights of local people.”

They vowed to continue their struggle until the demands were met, emphasising that their children’s future was linked to this issue.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2025