Diamer-Bhasha dam protest blocks Karakoram Highway for second day

GILGIT: A sit-in by people affected by the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project continued on Monday, keeping the Karakoram Highway closed and cutting off road links between Gilgit-Baltistan and the rest of the country.

The blockade left hundreds of travellers stranded on both sides of the highway, including tourists and patients, while long lines of vehicles remained stuck. Protesters have been holding sit-ins in Chilas and Thore in Diamer for the past six days, pressing the government to implement a 2025 agreement reached with dam-affected communities.

The demonstrators said none of the clauses of that agreement had been enforced so far. The protest escalated on Sunday when they shut the Karakoram Highway to all traffic. A separate sit-in was also held in Chilas, the district headquarters, where the road was blocked near Masjid Aqsa.

Officials from the Gilgit-Baltistan caretaker government and the district administration held talks with protest representatives in an effort to get the road reopened. However, the negotiations did not succeed, and the protesters said they would continue the sit-in until their demands were accepted.

The organisers of the protest said they would end the demonstration only after the 2025 agreement was fully implemented. They also warned that the movement could be expanded if their demands continued to be ignored, and said they had support from across the region.

Wapda says it remains committed to agreement

In a statement issued on Monday, a spokesperson for the Water and Power Development Authority said the authority was taking broad measures not only for construction of the dam but also for the socio-economic uplift of the local population under what he described as a well-defined and integrated strategy.

The spokesperson said Wapda remained fully committed to implementing the 2025 agreement and added that priority was being given to the employment of local youth in the project. He said projects of this scale require time for approvals and execution, and urged the public to cooperate and avoid disruptions.

He said such interruptions could delay the project and increase the burden on the national exchequer. The spokesperson also said Wapda Chairman retired Lt Gen Muhammad Saeed had earlier called an immediate meeting of the Supreme Court’s Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Implementation Committee to address issues faced by the Diamer district administration and resolve the legitimate demands of the local population. He added that key decisions taken in that meeting had also been approved by the federal ministerial committee.

According to the statement, scholarships have been awarded under the 2025 agreement, schools and colleges have been established, funds have been allocated for higher education, and several development schemes have already been launched.

Protesters list 31 demands

The protesters have presented a 31-point charter of demands. These include 80 per cent royalty from the Diamer-Bhasha Dam and 30 per cent from the Dassu Dam for Gilgit-Baltistan, free electricity for Diamer district, subsidised electricity for the rest of Gilgit-Baltistan, compensation for 18,000 acres acquired for the dam, and a financial package for the remaining 3,000 affected families.

Other demands include commercial and residential plots, development schemes in education, health and sewerage, employment for local people from grade one to 16, and regularisation of contingent and daily-wage workers.

In February last year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had formed a seven-member committee to address the grievances of those affected by the project during an earlier sit-in in Chilas.

Meanwhile, Gilgit-Baltistan caretaker Information Minister Ghulam Abbas said the government was committed to safeguarding the rights of the dam-affected people. He said caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Yar Muhammad was fully aware of the sensitivity of the matter and was taking it up with the federal government.