GILGIT: The sit-in by Diamer-Bhasha Dam affected persons entered its 42nd day on Friday as the Gilgit Baltistan (GB) government and other stakeholders failed to strike a deal with the protesters.

Protesters in Chilas, Diamer’s district headquarters, said their 31-point character of demands was not met despite promises.

The ‘Huqooq Do, Dam Banao’ (Ensure the rights, build the dam) protest movement has gained public traction from across GB and is expected to intensify after Eid.

Protesters said they would not allow the construction of the dam unless their demands were met.

Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and GB Amir Muqam, who is also chairman of the committee constituted by the prime minister to address the grievances of the affectees, suggested that the protesters committee should sit with the government committee to resolve the issues.

The construction work on the periphery road, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda)and other dam construction companies’ offices in Chilas have been shut for the last 15 days. Several rounds of negotiations have failed to yield results.

Addressing protesters, the head of the protest movement committee Maulana Hazratullah said thousands of protesters continued their protest sit-in near KKH at Chilas despite harsh weather and Ramazan.

“No progress has been made on the implementation of our charter of demands for the last 40 days. Only committees are being formed and delaying tactics are being used. However, the protesters are committed to calling off the protest only after the fulfilment of their demands,” Mr Hazratullah said.

Shabir Ahmed Qureshi, another organiser of the protest, said recently, five religious scholars who were on a visit to Darel Valley to mobilise the public faced a road accident when their vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into a ravine near the Diamer Basha Dam site.

He said fortunately, all five religious scholars who are among the organisers of the protest remained unharmed in the incident.

Shabir Ahmed Qureshi said the unwanted situation was created by the negligence of both the federal and GB governments to settle the issue.

Maulana Aftab said people were committed to stand by their demands and the protest will be intensified after Eid.

The dam protest committee members met various political, religious and civil society organisations to seek their support for massive protests after Eid.

The organisers decided to continue their protest sit-in near KKH at Chilas during Eid days.

Their charter of demands includes the provision of 80 per cent royalty from the Diamer-Bhasha Dam and 30pc from the Dassu Dam to GB, free electricity generated by the project to the Diamer district and at a discounted rate to the people of GB.

It also includes payment of compensation for 18,000 acres acquired for the dam, financial package for the remaining 3,000 families affected by the mega project, commercial and residential plots, education, health, and sewerage projects, jobs for local at the dam project and regularisation of contingent and daily wage employees.

According to a press release issued on Thursday, an important meeting chaired by Federal Minister Engineer Amir Muqam was held in Islamabad.

In the meeting, other members of the committee including Federal Minister for Water Resources Moin Wattoo, Water and Wapda retired Lieutenant General Sajjad Ghani, Secretary Ministry of Kashmir Affairs Gilgit-Baltistan Zafar Hassan, GB Chief Secretary Abrar Ahmed Mirza, officials from planning and development division participated.

The participants reviewed the demands of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam affectees in detail.

The meeting was informed that so far Rs151 billion has been issued as compensation for land and houses.

The federal minister said that although compensation of Rs151 billion has been given, the agreements of 2010 and 2015, which were signed between the Wapda, GB government and the dam affectees, will be implemented.

He said that the legitimate demands of the protesters will be addressed at all costs. The federal minister said that the cadet college, schools and health facilities in Chilas are also among their priorities.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2025