MANSEHRA: Traders and residents of Upper Kohistan on Friday blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) to traffic, demanding electricity supply from the local gridstation.
They also staged a sit-in at the main bazaar in the Chuchang area and warned that they would block the highway connecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit-Baltistan for an indefinite period if their sole demand was not met.
“After making the Chuchang gridstation operational, Wapda started supplying electricity to the Dasu dam project and residential colonies, but the indigenous communities are still deprived of power,” Haider Khan, a resident, told protesters.
The protesters raised slogans in support of their demands and against Wapda, which they alleged had breached an agreement signed with local communities when land was acquired for the Dasu Hydropower Project.
Motorists and passengers travelling within the district and between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan remained stranded in their vehicles due to the blockade of the KKH.Another resident, Saeedur Rehman, said that the protesters had been blocking the highway daily from 5pm to 10pm as a peaceful protest, but the government had failed to address their concerns.
“Now we have decided to block the highway for 24 hours until the government meets our demand and starts supplying electricity from the Chuchang grid station,” he said.Amir Zada said that the government had acquired local land for the Dasu Hydropower Project, one of the country’s major energy projects, and had promised to rehabilitate affected communities and provide them with electricity through a grid station to be established in Chuchang.“However, the government has yet to fulfil its commitment,” he added.
