Gilgit—The grand Jirga of Diamer district has finally handed over those people who are wanted by the police in connection with the killings on April 3 in Chilas town, police and administration officials said. “Thanks God all matters resolved amicably and Jirga agreed and people nominated in the FIR are being given in Police custody” District Magistrate Shozaib Saeed told APP here on Monday.

He said use of force was not solution in this particular area and we wanted to arrest the nominated people and thanks to cooperation of the Jirga that it became possible to arrest them. “The grand Jirga told Police in Chilas meeting that all the wanted people would be handed over by this evening” top administration official of Diamer said.

Official said the negotiations lasted for more than five days between Police and Jirga in this regard. Initially Molana Muzamil Shah, Sher Ghazi and two others people had reached Chilas rest house from where they were about to be taken to a secret place for investigations.

“They are not accused rather they are nominated in FIR and investigation would determine whether or not they are culprits” District Magistrate.

The situation in Gilgit and Chilas is getting from bad to worse, said Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan.

Commenting on horrendous story of death and destruction coming out Gilgit-Baltistan, he said that there are reports of over two hundred people being killed in the last three days in a horrific escalation of violence. Imran expressed his condolences to the families of the diseased and expressed deep sympathy with their plight. The extent of barbarity, he said, has extended to physically distorting the dead bodies. This shows the extent of hatred between sects prevalent in GB.

According to Chairman PTI Imran Khan, the government is simply incapable of containing the violence or even providing basic security to the people in the area. All it has done is to make life further miserable.

All communication with GB and mobile phones within, have been disconnected, curfew has been imposed, and ground and air transportation between GB and rest of Pakistan has been blocked. The result is that serious shortage of foodstuffs and other necessities has started to appear.

The situation has reached this sorry pass because the Federal Government, which is ultimately responsible for security in the country, is not only corrupt but also totally incompetent. Sectarian violence has also been flaring up in Baluchistan where members of the Hazara Shia community are the victims. This is also true of other parts of the country. Karachi is again witnessing brutal killings with serious danger of the situation deteriorating rapidly.

As far as Gilgit-Baltistan is concerned, said Imran, no senior official or political office holder has bothered to visit the area. The Interior Minister Rehman Malik, keeps issuing inane statements but his record of giving the citizens peace and security in GB and rest of the country is abysmal. PM Gilani is either busy taking on state institutions such as the Supreme Court, or protecting the corrupt. He has no time to spare to provide security and good governance to the country. The less said about the President the better. He is busy touring the world, the expense of which is being borne by the poor people of Pakistan.

Chairman PTI said that this incompetent government is responsible for the barbarity going on in Gilgit Baltistan. Unless quick and effective measures are not taken, he said, the entire area would fall into a grip of violence that would be impossible to contain. He urged immediate action and said that PM Gilani should camp in Gilgit until the situation is controlled. PTI on its part will play a role to bring peace in the area and a high level delegation of the party would soon be visiting Gilgit, he concluded.

Published in sananews

The Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) has prioritised $28.2 billion water and hydropower projects to be completed by 2020 and decided to follow the guidelines and safeguards set by the Asian Development Bank for providing funds and technical assistance.

This is the crux of the final report of FoDP’s water sector task force after including suggestions of the stakeholders. The report completed in about a year is scheduled to be launched on Feb 20.

“It is Pakistan’s political and policy leaders who will have to decide the course of action” — whether to have a binding commitment from provinces and the lending agencies or follow the normal decision process of five-year plans, annual budgets and partnership strategies with lenders about a roadmap.

The report says Pakistan has one of the largest, complex and integrated water system but despite greater issues its policy leaders were ‘flying almost blind’ despite an ominous threat from snow and glacial melt on the Indus system arising out of climate change.

The task force puts $12 billion Diamer-Bhasha dam in Gilgit-Baltistan as ‘priority number one’ for implementation after unanimity of views among all domestic stakeholders and bilateral and multilateral lenders.

Second on the list are six major projects with total cost of $14 billion — Kurram Tangi, Munda, Dasu, Kohala, Golen Gol and Bunji, to be developed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.

There was unanimity among the member countries, lenders and stakeholders in Pakistan on the need for major dams and top priority for Bhasha dam.

On resistance from some provinces, the controversial Kalabagh dam has been dropped from the priority list, although the multilateral lenders had strongly recommended its construction.

Understanding the difficulties in taking major political decisions in an election year, the task force has also called for provincial strategies for the ‘next governments’ but advised the lending agencies to include these projects in the programmes already in the pipeline.

The task force has noted opposition from the Federal Flood Commission to putting responsibility of inspection of existing infrastructure and embankments on Wapda and left the issue for the government to decide.

The lenders have endorsed Punjab’s move to put in place an Asset Management Plan for embankments and to develop a financial method for maintenance of major embankments. Provinces believed FFC’s inspection of embankments was not up to the mark.

However, the task force notes “serious, cumulative problems of neglect of maintenance of major embankments by the provinces”.

It was agreed that good institutional, social and environmental policies were needed to attract external investment.

The task force did not agree to follow recommendations of the World Commission of Dams and decided to follow safeguard requirements of the ADB.

Despite insistence by some provinces that existing revenue sharing from large dams was sacrosanct, the task force said it would continue to advocate that Pakistan should adopt good global practices involving a formula of royalty sharing among affected provinces and local people and move away from the Tarbela-like arrangement that transfers maximum benefits to the province where the power house is located without giving project benefits to locally displaced communities.

The task force agreed that the 1991 accord was a great asset for water sharing among the provinces but urged to put in place an institutional framework that reduced current large political elements in its implementation and for better predictions for rabi and kharif seasons and transparent measurement of flows and losses to end mistrust.

The report notes strong agreement for improved on-farm water management (OFWM), the need for new infrastructure on canal storage and control structure.

Likewise, strong commitment has emerged for small and medium dams which should be developed by provinces but in integrated command area projects using modern technologies.

For this, all provinces have agreed to the objective of full cost recovery from users.

For better agricultural productivity, the stakeholders have also agreed to a $315 million assistance for OFWM, $140 million for small dams, $100 million for spate irrigation and $500 million for improved management of main canals.

The stakeholders have agreed to put in place new operating rules for major future dams and projects — moving away from agriculture as top priority to power and flood control whose benefits are larger than agriculture.

The FODP agreed to provide $500 million for a flood management programme to be completed by 2016.

The report notes major issues with bulk water transmission in Karachi, unsustainable groundwater use in Quetta posing an existential threat and deplores “no indication of willingness to address these challenges”.

It has also found broad agreement that the present institutional model is broken, most obviously financially as no utilities have operating ratio greater than 50 per cent, creating problems in meeting water needs in growing city peripheries and choking sewerage and sanitation services. It says the first step to address these issues will be for the political leadership to spend political capital for financial sustainability.

The task force says the FoDP should stay away from reforming city institutions unless there is a strong political commitment and then consider financing ‘transition costs’ for getting to financial sustainability.

Published in Dawn News

Protesters who blocked the Karakoram Highway in Chilas on Sunday, refused to open it for traffic on the second consecutive day, demanding that the police arrest the murderers of Abdul Wakil, who was target killed last week.

A resident of Chilas, Wakil, fell victim to sectarian violence in Gilgit. The city witnessed an upsurge in shooting incidents in which four people were killed and four others injured.

Wakil’s son, who was accompanying him at the time of the incident, said his father’s killers checked his national identity card before shooting him. Residents of Nagral, the place where Wakil was killed, said they handed over one of the killers to the police to prove they were against sectarianism.

Protesters have declared the highway will remain blocked till the murderers are arrested. Sources in the district administration said negotiations between the authorities and the protesters failed as they did not trust assurances given by officials.

Meanwhile, police in Gilgit said at least 12 people have been arrested so far and are being investigated. Since last Saturday, security forces have been given powers to shoot terrorists on sight.

“The blockade has left hundreds of vehicles stranded on both sides of the highway,” said a resident of Chilas. More than 5,000 protesters rejected the government’s request to clear the highway that serves as the only land route connecting Gilgit-Baltistan to the rest of the country and China.

While briefing reporters in Gilgit on Monday, the chief minister said a new security plan had been devised to contain violence in the city, but he did not elaborate.

Published in The Express Tribune

At least two girls schools were partially damaged after two low-intensity explosive devices went off early on Wednesday in Chilas, about 130 kilometres from Gilgit.

“The blasts occurred at around 2:30 am but the damage to the school buildings is minor,” said Ali Sher, a senior police official at Chilas, headquarters of the Diamer district where the 4,500 MWs Diamer-Bhasha Dam is under construction.

The police official said no loss of life was reported during the explosions. Locals blame ‘anti-dam elements’ for the blasts which could jeopardise foreign funding for the project.

“We will not let such elements succeed in their nefarious designs,” said Salahuddin, a resident of Chilas.

Police said that eight suspects have been taken into custody for interrogation. “Improvised explosive devices were used for the explosion,” revealed Sher.

The ‘targeted schools’ consisted of a single room each with no boundary walls, said Asadullah, another resident of Chilas, adding that all the schools in the valley had been closed due to winter vacations.

Early this year, unidentified assailants had blown up two girls schools and partially damaged the boundary wall of a mosque in town. Clerics had unanimously condemned the act and called for unmasking the ‘hidden hand’ behind such attacks. However, no inquiry report was made public.

The Diamer valley has assumed a pivotal position for the country due to the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project which could generate up to 4,500 MWs of power by 2020. The dam is being built on the River Indus, about 300 km upstream of Tarbela Dam and about 40 km downstream of Chilas. According to experts, the dam is expected to be completed in eight years and will cost over $12 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune by Shabbir Mir

In the freezing cold, thousands of people in the Ghizer valley took to the streets and blocked roads to protest against loadshedding that has practically brought life to a standstill across Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).

In Chilas, Diamer district, where the Diamer-Bhasha Dam is under construction, people suffered a blackout after the power and water department suspended electricity to consumers to protest against an official’s maltreatment by the police.

Residents of Ishkoman, Yasin, Phunder, Gitch and Goharabad were provoked by prolonged power cuts since electricity is the only facility available for residents in the valley where temperature plummeted to -12 degrees Celsius this week. “We have no water, no heating arrangement in this freezing cold. The four to six hours of electricity that we get has also been suspended,” said a trader, Nassem. The power cut had left thousands of people in the dark.

Police had booked more than 40 people for damaging public property in Ghizer valley as protests continued throughout the week.

In Gilgit, the duration of loadshedding has exceeded 15 hours a day while the mercury continues to drop. The situation is worse in Skardu, Astore, and Hunza-Nagar.

Official sources said G-B is currently experiencing 132 megawatts (MW) power shortfall while the government is unable to provide electricity to at least 15 per cent of the population of the region so far. It is generally believed that the shortfall increases considerably in winters when consumption increases while production declines. However official sources said the shortfall experienced in Gilgit is about 23 MW while it is about 25 per cent in Skardu, the second major city of G-B.

According to official statistics, the total strength of consumers in all the seven districts of G-B is more than 150,77, while approximately 400 connections are daily issued to new consumers.

G-B Minister for Water and Power, Wazir Shakil, said on Sunday that about 120MW of electricity would be generated by 2015 in G-B, a region that is believed to have the capacity to produce more than 50,000 MW. “Hectic efforts are under way to streamline matters pertaining to water and power,” he said, adding that the government was faced with financial issues.

Published in The Express Tribune

Source (Express Tribune ) In an attempt to reduce the prevailing energy crisis in the country, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the Diamer Bhasha Dam in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The dam is being built about 40 kilometres from Chilas on the Indus River and will have a capacity of producing 4,500 megawatts of electricity.

The construction of the dam will cost around $11.17 billion and can store around 8.1 million acre-foot of water. The dam will provide more than 6.4 million acre-foot of water to irrigate a large area of agricultural land.

After the foundation stone laying ceremony, the prime minister addressed a public gathering and said that the dam construction would open many jobs and contribute to the economic uplift of Gilgit-Baltistan.

During the address, Gilani termed the $12 billion dollars project a “life-line” for the national economy that would help meet the country’s future agricultural and power requirements.

Prime Minister Gilani termed it a historic day and appreciated the people of Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and their political leadership for standing united to initiate the mega project.

He said taking clue from the fate of the Kalabagh Dam that fell victim to some politicians who kept on playing to the gallery, he decided to take all stakeholders on board.

Gilani said the dam was the outcome of the vision of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and recalled that in 1974-75, Northern Areas Framework Ordinance was promulgated and all agencies were given the status of Districts.

He said that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had added Ghizer and Ganche as new districts and launched work on the Pak-China symbol of Karakoram Highway.

He said the government would come up with several new development projects in the next budget that would bring in more stability.

Gilani also announced Rs200 million for District Diamir and setting up of Engineering faculty at the KKH University which would be later upgraded to a separate engineering university.

Diamer Bhasha dam to usher in a new era of development: Qamar

Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar on Tuesday said the Diamer-Bhasha dam would usher in a new era of development in the country.

Addressing a gathering at the foundation stone laying ceremony, the minister said that special importance was being given to the development of water resources. He said special inter-ministerial committee was already in place to ensure provision of just compensation to the affected people of the dam site.

Mian Manzoor Ahmad Watoo, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan (GB), said that the Diamer-Bhasha dam was the only source of cheap electricity generation. He said Rs42 billion had been allocated as compensation to the affected people through a transparent manner.

He said the dam would open new vistas of development and ensure employment generation for the local people.

Chief Minister GB Syed Mehdi Shah said the dam had the support of all political parties which would not only fulfill the energy requirements but would also help getting rid of non-productive thermal projects.

He demanded to ensure employment locals for the project, resolving the royalty issue, and up-gradation of Babusar-Chilas road and the 110-km portion of KKH which will be affected by the dam.

Source (The News) A large number of people in Kohistan district Friday blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) to protest boundary and land price issues of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam.

“We will not allow President Asif Ali Zardari to inaugurate the Diamer-Bhasha Dam on October 18, if the issues are not addressed,” MPA Abdul Sattar Khan told the protesters. Hundreds of protesters led by MPA Abdul Sattar Khan and other elders blocked the KKH at Harban area at around 12 noon. The highway remained blocked till filing of this report. The protesters, holding banners, chanted slogans against the government and Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).

Other speakers, including Mian Gul, Syed Gul Badshah, Raza Wali Khan and others said they would not allow the president to inaugurate the dam unless the dues of the landowners were cleared and boundary issue with the Gilgit-Baltistan was settled. A grand jirga had earlier constituted a committee to convey the grievances of the people to the government.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Friday that the foundation stone of Diamer-Bhasha Dam will be laid on October 18.

Speaking during the National Assembly session on Friday, Gilani said the dam was a mega project and that the government had brought it in the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to take the approval of all stakeholders so that it could not be politicised like Kalabagh dam.

He said the CCI meeting was attended by all four chief ministers and the project had been approved unanimously.

Gilani, while responding to point of orders in the National Assembly, recalled that the Lowari Tunnel project had been launched during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government.

The prime minister said that the project require rupees two billion for completion, adding that the amount would soon be provided to complete the remaining work on the project.

He said all megaprojects, including Diamir Bhasha Dam, Thar coal, Lowari Tunnel, Neelum-Jehlum, Mangla uprising and others, would be completed by the government.

Gilgit-Baltistan Council approves budget

Gilgit Baltistan (GB) Council, met at the Prime Minister House today under the leadership of Gilani in his capacity as Chairman, unanimously approved the budget of GB Council for the period of 2011-2012.

According to the budget documents the budget estimates consist of Rs482.665 million for the Financial Year 2011-12, non-tax revenues are Rs280 million, capital receipts are Rs0.2 million while development expenditures are Rs180 million and non-development expenditures are Rs302.665 million taking total expenditure to the extent of Rs482.665 million.

Earlier, Gilani administered oath to three Advisors to Chairman GB Council here today at a ceremony held at the PM House. The Advisors who took the oath are Professor Ghulam Hussain, Ibadat Ali, and Atta Ullah Khan Shahab.

Soon after the oath taking ceremony, he addressed the second session of GB Council and congratulated the advisors to the Chairman, GB Council, on taking oath of office. He hoped that the Advisors would discharge their responsibilities with complete sincerity.

“It is democracy only that resolves people’s age-old problems by addressing their grievances and accommodating their demands. The government of Pakistan People’s Party has done what the political party having two/thirds majority in parliament could not do,” he stated.

He further said that the political history of the region bore witness to the fact that all landmark developments that led to attainment of autonomy took place during the governments of Pakistan People’s Party. The first major reform in the form of Northern Areas Council Legal Framework Order 1974-75 was promulgated by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, implying introduction of major administrative, judicial and political changes.

Gilani said that it was during the government of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto that the Northern Areas Legal Framework Order 1994 was promulgated. The final culmination of the process came about when the present government issued GB (Empowerment & Self-Governance) Order 2009, giving people political, legislative and administrative autonomy in line with the manifesto of PPP, the PM stated.

He maintained that the GB Council was performing its responsibilities in an upbeat manner by providing complete institutional support to the Council to work out policies aimed at achieving welfare of people, adding that the GB Government was fully autonomous in running its affairs.

Gilani said that GB had vast potential in the areas of power generation, tourism, mines and mineral and other areas. The mega Hydro-power projects such as Diamer-Basha Dam were extremely vital to our energy and food security and its role in bringing prosperity to the people of the area hardly needs to be emphasized and announced that the present Government also planned to initiate work on Bunji Dam which is projected to have power generation capacity of 11000 MW.

He said that the overall size of ongoing ADP projects in GB (comprising 563 schemes) was about Rs52.3 billion. Projects worth Rs13.2 billion are being funded through Federal PSDP. For the current financial year an allocation of Rs6.076 billion has been made for GB Government over and above the PSDP allocation of Rs1.58 billion.

Those who attended the meeting included Pir Karam Ali Shah, Vice Chairman Gilgit Baltistan Council/Governor Gilgit Baltistan, Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo, Minister for Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit Baltistan, Syed Mehdi Shah, Chief Minister for Gilgit Baltistan, Mir Changez Khan Jamali, Minister for Science and Technology, Farah Naz Insphani, MNA/Member GB Council, Aftab Shahban Mirani, MNA/Member GB Council, Muhammad Tariq Tarar, MNA/Member GB Council, Sherry Rehman, MNA/Member GB Council, Engr Usman Khan Tarkai, MNA/Member GB Council, Prof Ghulam Hussain Saleem, Member GB Council, Muhammad Ibrahim, Member GB Council, Amjad Hussain, Member GB Council, Saeed Afzal, Member GB Council, Attaullah Khan, Member GB Council, Wazir Baig, Speaker, GB Legislative Assembly, Jamil Ahmed, Deputy Speaker GB Legislative Assembly, Muhammad Ali Akhtar, Minister for Finance Gilgit Baltistan and senior official of Gilgit Baltistan Council.