Land for Mohmand Dam

Utmankhels move SC for compensation

By Sohail Khan

ISLAMABAD: Over four-dozen residents of Utmankhel tribe, Tehsil Ambaar, District Mohmand on Monday requested the Supreme Court to issue directions to Wapda for conducting a joint survey with them to ascertain if any portion of land of tehsil Ambaar will be required for the construction of Mohmand Dam.

They requested if the survey affirms that their land will be required for the construction of Mohmand Dam, they be made aware of the total land to be acquired for the Dam and be compensated accordingly.

About 50 residents of Utmankhel tribe, Tehsil Ambaar, District Mohmand filed a Civil Miscellaneous Application (CMA) in the Supreme Court in Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dam’s case through Shamsur Rehman, Malik of the area.

Filed through advocate Mian Shafaqat Jan, the elders prayed to the apex court to direct Wapda or any other relevant acquiring agency to furnish complete record/details of the land required for the Mohmand Dam with the further clarification and record as to how much land of the Utmankhel of tehsil Ambaar is to be acquired for the Dam.

They also prayed the apex court that Wapda/local administration be directed to acquire the land strictly as per the law applicable and by protecting the rights of the land owners including the applicants/Utmankhels of tehsil Ambaar, adding that Wapda and local administration should be also directed not to acquire and/or take into possession land of the applicants without settlement and payment of the due compensation to the land owners/applicants.

The residents demanded due share of participation in the construction work and other development work on the dam/project and stressed that they should be equally consulted and informed of all the works, especially of the land acquisition process and they should also be given preference in the jobs in the dam particularly from grade 1 to 15.

They welcomed the construction of the Mohmand Dam on their lands from the core of their hearts and are thankful to the government of Pakistan and of this august court in this regard and pledged their commitment to cooperate with the government of Pakistan and are ready and willing to provide every assistance and support that the Utmankhel tribe of tehsil Ambaar are required to however, they said that they are only concerned about the redress of their genuine grievances and protection of their fundamental rights guaranteed to them under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

They contended that Utmankhel Tribe of Tehsil Ambaar which is the most affected area/tehsil of Mohmand Dam and the entire land owned by the people of Utmankhel tribe of tehsil Ambaar is going to be affected and occupied with the construction of Mohmand Dam.

They said that in District Mohmand, there is another tribe known as Mohmand which has no relationship with Utmankhel and a very small portion of the land i.e. less than 20 percent of the entire land required for the construction of the Mohmand Dam, is owned by the people/tribe of Mohmand.

They however, contended that still, the proposed/under construction dam is named after the Mohmand tribe for the obvious reasons that all the influential people in the district Mohmand belong to Mohmand tribe.

“Totally neglecting the Utmankhels while giving name to the dam despite the fact that the proposed/under construction dam is going to be built on more than 80 percent of the land of Utmankhels, as per the applicants’ understanding and belief, is a conspiracy against the tribe of Utmankhel and is a move based on pure mala fide and against the rights and interests of the Utmankhel tribe of tehsil Ambaar”, they said

They submitted that as per the report, for the Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project (“MDHP”), under the heading of “Preliminary Works by Wapda”, at S.No.1.3 of the Report/CMA No.3150/2019, land shall be acquired for the project in three phases i.e. Phase–I, Phase-II and Phase-III. Details of the land required for the above three phases is as under:

1-Phase-I “Priority Land”: 844 acres;

2-Phase-II “Irrigation Network”: 1,159 acres; and

3-Phase-III “Reservoir area”: 6,665 acres

Total land required/to be acquired: 8,668 acres.

They however, contended that the people of Utmankhel, Tehsil Ambaar, are not aware of any of the above facts as they have never been approached by anyone including Wapda for acquisition of their land for the project nor are they aware of any land acquisition proceedings ever undertaken by Wapda or any other acquiring agency. Hence, they apprehended that their land is being taken over by Wapda/local administration without their consent and due compensation.

If the above happens and the Utmankhels of Tehsil Ambaar are deprived of their land without due process of law, that will be in sheer violation of their fundamental rights guaranteed to them under Articles 23 and 24 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, they contended.

They informed that as per the report/CMA 3150/19, time line for completion of Phase-II i.e. “irrigation network” is June, 2019 and for the same land measuring 1,159 acres is required for the“Canal Area”, however, the Utmankhels of Tehsil Ambaar, who are owners of the above land acquired/to be acquired have still not been contacted and/or consulted for the purposes of acquisition of their lands, by any authority/agency.