MANSEHRA: The Upper Kohistan district administration on Saturday urged protesters to call off their protest, which entered its sixth consecutive day on Saturday.
“The district administration is ready to support your demand. You should end the blockade of the Karakoram Highway, as motorists and passengers travelling between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan are suffering due to the sit-in,” Assistant Commissioner, Suo tehsil, Fawad Khan told elders leading the protest at Chuchang near Kamila.
The protesters, however, continued their sit-in and blockade of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) for the sixth consecutive day, from 5pm until midnight.
The assistant commissioner, on the directives of Deputy Commissioner Azizullah Jan, visited Chuchang, where protesters have been staging the sit-in since last week.
“We will ensure a meeting between your representatives and Wapda officials to resolve the issue of electricity supply from the Chuchang grid station. The district administration believes that all outstanding issues should be settled amicably and in accordance with the commitments made by both sides as Wapda and the local communities,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Maulana Umar Umeer said that Wapda had failed to honour its agreements with the affected communities and that its senior officials should directly engage with them.
“If Wapda’s high-ups come to our protest camp and announce electricity supply to the people of our district, as promised when land was acquired for the Dasu Hydropower Project, we
will call off the agitation,” he said.
Maulana Umar said that the protesters would continue their movement until their demand was met.
The motorists and passengers travelling within the district and between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan remained stranded on the KKH in the Zaidkhar area of Lower Kohistan due to the blockade.
The Lower Kohistan district administration restricted the movement of vehicles and passenger coaches through its jurisdiction from 5pm to midnight in view of the ongoing protest.
Passengers have been facing considerable hardship as they remained stranded on both sides of the highway, while protesters continue to block the artery in an effort to press the government to provide electricity through the Chuchang grid station in Upper Kohistan.
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 the Chuchang grid station, which was completed earlier this year.
