CDGR steps in to acquire land for hydropower station

[Salman]

Rawalpindi: The City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) issued a compulsory land acquisition order on November 4 for the procurement of 2,400 kanals in Kahuta tehsil for the construction of a 720 megawatt hydropower project that will cost $1.4 billion.

Initially, the Chinese company working on the project attempted to personally negotiate the deal with landowners. However, after multiple rejected offers, the company asked CDGR to step in, which, in turn, applied Section 3 of the Punjab Land Acquisition Act.

According to sources, the Chinese company had offered the 52 landowners PKR 700,000 per kanal, even though the market price was PKR 100,000 per kanal, land at another location, houses at another location, jobs, and PKR 20,000 every month for a year.

Around 250 kanals are currently occupied and an area of 2,150 kanals is mountainous. Reportedly, the mountainous land will be procured first and the occupied land will be vacated once it has been bought.