Daral Khwar Hydropower Project (Daral KPP), story of deception to the local community

Daral Khwar Hydropower Project (Daral KPP), story of deception to the local community

Bahrain is a scenic town in the upper beautiful valley of Swat. It is the cultural and business hub of a non-Pashtun indigenous community-Torwali- with a population of about 120,000. Bahrain is usually visited by thousands of tourists in summer; and many
also visit it during winter. It is a tourist resort due to its mild weather, confluence of two rivers with refreshing splashes and clean environment. Each summer hundreds of tourists rent homes here and spend their summer away from the blazing sun of Peshawar,
Charsada, Mardan and rest of Pakistan. Most of the homes for rent are built on the banks of the River Daral which flows in between the town splitting it into two. Along these banks one has to wear thick blankets even in the month of June and July due to the
breeze the river splashes cause to blow around.

As the main River Swat flows below the town so the people dependupon the River Daral for their subsistence because the river Daral provides water for irrigation, drinking, spinning water mills, running private micro hydel powerhouses and above all it maintains
a clean, cool and fresh environment. As mentioned earlier Bahrain is a tourist attraction because of this river hence a major part of the local economy depends upon the tourism which further depends upon the River Daral.

 The river in question is also an integrated part of the identity of Bahrain. The very name Bahrain [an Arabic word meaning “two rivers”] is inclusive of the River Daral (in Pashto Daral Khwar). In the late 90s a feasibility report was carried out by the
Surhad Hydel Development Organization “SHYDO” for the Asian Development Bank “ADB” which ‘was’ to fund the project under its renewable energy sector by a loan of Rs. 5.56 billion under the code no. 2286 The public sector organization “SHYDO” whose Chairman
of Board of Directors is the Chief Minister of the province adopted an exclusivist
and bureaucratic approach in its design and resettlement plan. At that time the people of Bahrain and adjacent villages were deceived by false promises of free electricity, jobs and developmental work. The
poor and ignorant people did accept what SHYDO told them.

 The current design has to divert this river (Daral River/Daral Khwar) from a point at a distance of 06 km up in the valley from Bahrain into a tunnel. This tunnel will be opened into a penstock near a village at a distance of 02 km away from Bahrain on
the Bahrain-Mingora main road. Thus the River Daral will be dried out.  At the site, on the western hill (Shunji) of Bahrain a 06 km road is to be constructed up to the project ‘intake’ in the village of Pasawr. Initially SHYDO would describe this road of
03 km only.  ADB is supposed to ensure that any project it funds must fulfill its Safeguard Policy. When the SHYDO was conducting the survey they did not disseminate the information with the local community.  After almost a decade, in 2009, SHYDO showed some
interest in the project again neglecting the local community. It hired paid touts in the community who tried their best to mislead the local people.

Being marginalized, poor and ethno-linguistic minority, the Torwali community, have no say in the affairs of the government. The KP government should realize their concerns and stop carrying the project over our dead bodies. They have no option left. However,
they can ask the ANP led KP government why it is all out to force them to migrate in order to save its face in the last year of its rule. Do they allow the Kalabagh Dam and Akhori Dam? Is it because in Nowshera and Peshawar more gifted people live while they
do not have any value living in the rock-locked valleys? Being disadvantaged, they approached the other stakeholders—media and judiciary and humanitarian organizations—to kindly listen to them and safeguard their rights. They, therefore, appealed all the concerned
citizens, media, and judiciary and humanitarian organizations to please stand by them in guarding them against the atrocities committed to their life in the name of development.

Nevertheless, they DO NOT demand a closure of the project but their demand is to REDESIGN the project and allocate a 10 % royalty from their resources so that that can be spent on the development of the area.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=5216

Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Nov 30 2011. Filed under Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry