Section-4 imposed to acquire land for Balakot power project

MANSEHRA: The district administration has imposed section-4 to acquire land for the 300 megawatts Balakot Hydropower project being built at a cost of Rs85 billion in the Kaghan valley by the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation.

“We have already fulfilled the legal formalities to acquire over 1700 kanals of land for the project and this ongoing process will shortly be completed,” Deputy Commissioner Dr Qasim Ali Khan told a briefing here on Tuesday.

A delegation of the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (PEDO) led by Advisor to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Energy and Power Himayatullah Khan visited the dam site in Kaghan valley at the end of briefing.

The deputy commissioner said that Balakot Hydropower project would be built downstream of the 860 megawatts Suki Kinari Hydropower project being executed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor initiative at Kunhar River in Kaghan valley. “The bane on the sale and purchase or transfer of the land being acquired for the Balakot dam is imposed to expedite the land acquisition process,” said Dr Qasim.