On Wednesday, residents impacted by the Diamer Bhasha Dam in Gilgit-Baltistan blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in protest against Wapda for not providing the promised compensation for their land’s relocation during the dam’s construction.
The demonstrators were requesting unpaid bills for the Chula (stove) Package, which gives them the right to money before they leave the homes they were given for the Dasu hydroelectric project.
Hundreds of cars were left stranded on both sides of the road in the Gechi neighborhood of Chilas in the Diamer district of GB after the action committee of the Diamer Bhasha Dam called for the sit-in and blocked the KKH.
Dawn.com was informed by Diamer Deputy Commissioner (DC) Captain (retd) Muhammad Arif that the demonstrators had stopped the road and were demanding unpaid compensation that they believed was still owed to Wapda.
He claimed to have had talks with the protesters and promised to relay their message to the Wapda chairman and other pertinent authorities. He also mentioned that the protesters had been expecting the chairman to visit next week, but they had not agreed to that.
DC According to Arif, the route was closed again when the demonstrators insisted that the Wapda chairman meet them at the sit-in location, even though it was opened for 30 minutes and stranded vehicles managed to get through the roadblock.
The leaders of the sit-in, Atiullah and Muhammad Iqbal, informed the delegation of the government that they would not leave the road until their demands were fulfilled and that they would continue their protest.
Iqbal informed Dawn.com over the phone that although the affected parties had been requesting Chula payments for a while, the administration and Wapda representatives had “paid no heed” to their requests.
He claimed that because the affected people gave up their lands for the nation, the government did not care to give the over 800 affected people the Chula payments that were contractually guaranteed to them.
Travelers on their way to and from Gilgit Baltistan-Islamabad found themselves stranded on either side of the road closure.
Passenger Muhammad Jamil, who was headed to Hunza, Gilgit, told Dawn.com that families and children had been stuck on the road for six hours.
He continued by saying that they were allowed to leave after the demonstrators ordered them to go right away since the route needed to be closed again.
