The long-standing conflict between the administration and affected people over land acquisition for the under-construction Dadocha Dam, located around 25 kilometers from Rawalpindi city, has ended through the use of force.
Acting with the support of paramilitary forces and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), the administration managed to evacuate the land by deploying bulldozers and issuing threats.
As a result, 285 houses, cowsheds and shops in the affected villages of Bharwala and Khanpur were demolished.
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Most of those affected dismantled their structures themselves after surrendering under pressure, although they did not receive compensation for their land, while several buildings were razed by government bulldozers.
These families, settled in the region for almost 300 years, have now started to migrate.
The settlements currently present a scene of devastation, reduced to piles of rubble. Affected people are working to secure their livestock, belongings and children, while the administration clears debris from the site.
The Dadocha Dam project was approved in 2005 during the tenure of former chief minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, with an initial cost of Rs 5 billion.
The cost of the project has now climbed to Rs17 billion. The new completion date was set for December 31, 2027, reflecting a two-year extension.
A total of 16,194 kanals and 14 marlas of land were acquired for the dam. Compensation of Rs 15,000-17,000 per marla was announced, but only five percent of politically influential people were reported to have received payments, while the rest were promised compensation in February.
Despite this, the land was released without payment.
Once completed, the dam will supply 35 million gallons of water per day to Rawalpindi and will have a storage capacity of 60,000 acre-feet.
Four villages were completely wiped out and seven were partially affected.
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Affected residents, including Qazi Rab Nawaz, Ajmal Jamshed and local elders, said they did not oppose the dam but demanded justice, including land compensation at market rate, payment for old trees and provision of alternative land.
They claimed to have been forced to surrender under pressure from the police, the CTD and the paramilitaries.
They further stated that they own two parcels of ancestral land measuring 82 kanals and 53 kanals at some distance.
A large housing society forcibly occupied the 82 kanal land, while some affected people began to settle on the 53 kanal land, located in a remote area with a badly damaged dirt road.
They urged the government to immediately open the road as a gesture of goodwill.
The affected people announced that they would approach the courts again, claiming that the orders of the Supreme Court and the High Court regarding compensation had been ignored. The final phase of land clearance for the dam is now complete. Regular construction work is expected to resume in the last week of January, and between January 20 and 25, all necessary land will be handed over to the Small Dams Organization.
