MANSEHRA: The residents of Lower Kohistan besieged the powerhouse of Dubair Khwar hydropower project on Monday to lodge their protest against Wapda for not supplying electricity directly to them from the dam.

The protesters also blocked Karakoram Highway at two places and forcibly stopped generation of electricity at the hydropower project.The protesting residents of Dijal and Puttan areas claimed that Wapda had signed an agreement with them that 12MW electricity from the dam would be directly supplied to consumers in Kohistan. The agreement was not implemented, they added. The protesters entered the powerhouse and got closed forcibly. They threatened the staff concerned to suspend the operation until their demands were met.

They also blocked Karakoram Highway at two different places at about 8am in morning. The passengers travelling between GilgitBaltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were stranded on the road in the scorching heat. The 130 megawatts Dubair Khawar hydropower project, which started production earli-er this year, had suffered great financial and human losses in 2011 flash floods, triggered by heavy rains in the region.

The administration held talks with the protesters to persuade them to end the siege of the powerhouse and open the road to traffic.

Assistant Commissioner Nosherwan, who led the district administration in talks, convinced the protesters at about 3pm to reopen Karakoram Highway to traffic so that the passengers could reach their destinations.

He told the protesters that he would take up their demands with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Wapda. He said that he was optimistic that their just demands would be met soon.Maulana Kareem, Mufti Mullai, Mohammad Kifayatullah and Malik Bradar represented the protesters in the talks.

Mr Kareem said that Wapda was not sincere in addressing their problems. He said that Wapda had signed an agreement with the local people that 12 megawatts electricity from the dam would be directly supplied to consumers in Kohistan but the agreement was not enforced.

`The electricity is generated here and it is supplied to other parts of country but people here are deprived of it as Wapda is violating the agreement. We would not allow it to deprive people of their rights, he said.

Mr Kareem said that people of Lower Kohistan would not allowWapda to generate electricity from the dam until there demands were met.

Deputy Commissioner Arshad Naveed, when contacted, said that local engineer and security staff of Dubair Khawar hydropower project contacted their general manager, who advised them to suspend the operation. `Yes production of electricity was suspended after protesters besieged the dam and blocked Karakoram Highway at two different places,` he said.

Mr Naveed said that local people had met with high ups of Wapda last month and apprised them of their problems. The Wapda authorities agreed to resolve their problems but nothing was done and people took to streets, he added.