Balakot power project: KP CM aide says price of land being enhanced

MANSEHRA: Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Population Welfare Ahmad Hussain Shah on Wednesday said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was going to enhance the price of over 8000 kanals of land acquired for the Balakot Hydropower project.

“The government has decided to increase rates of land acquired for the 300-megawatts Balakot Hydropower Project and new prices will shortly be announced,” he told reporters in Balakot.

The CM’s aide said that the price fixed by the district administration in 2021 would be set aside and fresh prices of land would be determined in light of the current market price. “The prices are being increased in light of the recommendations of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy and Power,” Shah said.

He added that the committee’s members headed by its head MNA Laiq Mohammad Khan visited Balakot and held a meeting with district administration and decided to raise the prices fixed by the district collector in 2021.

“The other issues being confronted by the dam’s affectees are also being settled as they would also be given employment opportunities in the Balakot hydropower project,” he added. The Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (Pedo) started the execution of the project in March this year after the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved funds for it.

The Balakot hydropower project is being built at Kunhar River downstream of the 880-megawatts Suki Kinari Hydropower project which is being completed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor initiative in the country.