Lahore/Islamabad: A majority of the landowners who had to surrender their land to facilitate the construction of Dasu hydropower project say they would not seek an increase in compensation amount or a change of land category in the future, a news source reported. The development comes after the Word Bank extended the project deadline for the third time.
Funded by the World Bank, which recently approved one-year extension till Nov 20, 2019 through an amendment to the financing agreement with Pakistan, the 4,320 MW Dasu hydropower project is located on Indus River.
Sources privy to the development said the government teams held a series of meetings with the affectees and asked them to submit affidavits containing their demands with the undertaking that they would not ask for more in future.
A steering committee would then forward a comprehensive report to the government, which will make a final decision in this regard. The committee is still looking into legal issues and may take another month to submit the report.
Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), on the other hand, urgently requires around 1,987 acres out of a total of 9,875 for civil works and a colony, whereas the remaining 7,888 acres are needed for the reservoir and other purposes.
World Bank has pledged around USD 588.44 million and an International Development Association (IDA) guarantee of USD 460 million with an IDA allocation of about USD 115 million for the project. It has released USD 176.23 million out of USD 588.44 million.
Due to capital constraints faced by the government and WAPDA, it has been proposed that the project be developed in two stages, each further divided into two phases of 1,080MW.
