ISLAMABAD: A 20-member Jirga has finally been constituted to resolve the long standing dispute over the multi-billion-dollar Diamer-Bhasha Dam land site between two tribes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
It is pertinent to mention here that while development activities related to the dam have started, the disputed land is hampering the project’s progress.
According to official sources, a meeting between elders of the Harban tribe of Kohistan and the Thor tribe of Diamer was held at the Diamer commissioner office wherein it was decided that a high power jirga would be given the task to amicably resolve the issue.
The jirga will consist of representatives of the two tribes and government officials of both the KP and GB governments. The district administration of Diamer and Kohistan, WAPDA officials and others would facilitate the jirga which is all set to meet on Monday.
As per sources, jirga members would decide about territorial limits at KP and GB’s border, land where the dam is located, while keeping historic documents and evidence in view.
The boundary dispute between the residents of Diamer district of GB and Kohistan district of KP has deepened with the passage of time, with both tribes refusing to budge from their stance.
Both the tribes claim ownership of a piece of land spanning over eight kilometres in Gandlo Nala area, where the dam’s power plant has to be installed. In 2014, the dispute turned violent when seven people died in a clash between the two parties.
Although a one-member commission was constituted to find a solution to the dispute in the past, the two sides had rejected its findings.
Earlier, the GB government had suggested that the federal government form a ‘grand jirga’ to resolve the dispute.
Further, the KP Assembly had also passed a resolution, claiming that 8km of land on the right side of the dam was part of the province. The move infuriated GB’s political leaders, who constituted a committee of all sitting lawmakers from Diamer valley to probe the issue.
The committee had traced documents signed between representatives of Kohistan and Diamer in 1947, declaring the land as part of Diamer.
Former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar had also taken notice of the land dispute when he took the initiative to raise funds for the project, and asked the ruling PTI to try for an out-of-court settlement of the issue. However, the issue of royalties arose due to constitutional limitations, as some of the turbines would be installed in GB while others would be set up in KP.
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