RAWALPINDI, Oct 5: Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Atique Ahmed Khan on Thursday said relocation of people affected by Mangla Dam upraising project was the top priority of the government.

“No body can pay for the sacrifices Mangla Dam-affected people made by lending their land to the government for the project. We respect their sacrifices and we will try to give them maximum relief,” he said.

He was talking to a delegation of affected people, headed by Chaudhry Mohammad Siddique, former development department chairman, which called on him here.

“We will compensate them in a manner that they will forget their grief for their lost homes that came under water,” he held.

The AJK PM also held out his assurance that the government would try its utmost to alleviate the grievances of affected people vis-a-vis Wapda.

Sardar Attique said the package announced by President Gen Pervez Musharraf for Mangla Dam-affected people would be implemented in letter and spirit.

The premier said the kind of allegiance people of Mirpur showed to Pakistan was tremendous, and they would be compensated in a befitting manner.

He said Mirpur was the city of affected people and the government would launch mega development projects to make it a city of international standard. — Online