MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government wants to ensure early payment of compensation to the owners whose land was acquired for Dasu and Diamer-Bhasha hydropower projects in Upper Kohistan.

“The government wants to clear the dues of landowners in order to timely lay the transmission lines from the Dasu power project to the national grid,” deputy commissioner Tariq Ali Khan told mediapersons on Tuesday.

“The process of paying compensation for land acquired for the Diamer-Bhasha project on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s side (Kohistan) is well underway,” he added.

Mr Khan said a recent meeting chaired by chief secretary Shahab Ali Shah and attended by the commissioner Hazara division, general managers of hydropower projects, the senior member Board of Revenue, and the director of land records, reviewed the issues faced by the local people.

“The rehabilitation of the families displaced by the two hydropower projects in Upper Kohistan is the government’s top priority,” Mr Khan said.

He added that both the hydropower projects were of immense national importance and would collectively generate more than 4,800 megawatts of electricity, helping bridge the country’s energy shortfall.

The deputy commissioner said the chief secretary also directed officials to expedite the resolution of issues faced by the people of Kohistan, including the construction of schools, health facilities, and vocational colleges.

“The execution of roads and other development schemes launched under the local area development programme is also underway,” Mr Khan said.

HOSPITAL CONSTRUCTION: Traders on Tuesday urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to complete the long-delayed construction of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Oghi.

“Ten years have passed since the groundbreaking of the hospital, but due to a shortage of funds, it is still incomplete,” traders’ leader Saidur Rehman told reporters.

Mr Rehman and other traders said that the absence of a fully functional hospital had deprived the locals of quality healthcare.

They said patients, particularly women and children, had to be taken to hospitals in other parts of the Hazara division for treatment, putting an additional financial burden on families.

He urged the chief minister to ensure the hospital’s early completion.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2025