Pogb: Diamer-Bhasha Dam Land-Affected People Block Karakoram Highway, Thousands Stranded On Road

(MENAFN- IANS) Islamabad, April 6 (IANS) People blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) at various locations in Diamer district of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan to demand rights of Diamer-Bhasha Dam land-affected people and warned that they would hold a long march towards the construction site of the dam if their demands were not met. Several people travelling to and from other parts of Pakistan to PoGB were left stranded due to the sit-in.

The Diamer-Bhasha Dam land-affected committee, under the 'Huqooq Do, Dam Banao' (Ensure rights, then build the dam) movement, has been staging a protest sit-in in Chilas and Thore areas of Diamer for the past five days. The protest has erupted over the non-implementation of the agreement made between the protesters and the federal government in 2025, Pakistan's leading daily, Dawn, reported.

The organisers gave a call for a protest in the Thore valley of Diamer on Sunday. Organisers said that people from Goharabad, Chilas, Goner Farm and other parts of Diamer had started marching towards Thore valley to participate in the protests.

However, law enforcement personnel blocked the Karakoram Highway in the Ghichi and Hudor regions to stop them from reaching Thore.

Protesters blocked the KKH at various points, and a large number of demonstrators in Thore valley held a sit-in. Thousands of people travelling to and from other parts of Pakistan to PoGB were stranded, with long queues of vehicles on the Karakoram Highway.

While addressing the protesters in Thore, chief organiser Maulana Hazratullah said,“If our convoys from other areas are not allowed to reach Thore immediately, we will be forced to move towards the dam site and Thore colony."

He blamed the officials of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) for the situation and described them as the main hurdle in the enforcement of the agreement between the government and protesters, Dawn reported.

The protesters said that the sit-in would end only when the authorities agreed to their demands. They said that Wapda officials had signed an agreement last year to address all issues. However, they said that not a single clause of the agreement had been implemented even after more than a year. They alleged that Wapda has not even met the protesters' basic demand of regularising local contingent and contractual employees.

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