UPPER DIR: The people of Patawo Darra area here on Saturday demonstrated against the district administration for `distributing` compensation amounts and relief goods, meant for the earthquake affected people, among the non-deserving people.

The protesters, including PTI local leaders Engineer Mohammad Nabi, Naveed Shaheen and Wasim Sajjad, marched on the city roads and staged a sit-in at the Dir chowk, carrying placards and chanting slogans against the local administration.

Addressing the protesters, the PTI leaders alleged the Dir assistant commissioner was involved in irregularities in the distribution of relief goods. They said the compensation amount was being distributed to non-deserving people and the affected people were living in tents in severe cold.

The speakers said the people of Thal, Komrat, Kalkot, Gowaldi, Usheri Dara, SultanKhel Dara,Patao, Chowa, Nehag Dara and other areas were facing difficulties in malceshift shelters.

The affected people complained that even after passage of three months of the earthquake they were still deprived of compensation amount. An affected resident said his two children were injured in thequake andhehad tospenda lot of money on their treatment.

He said he had so far received only one cheque from the authorities, which wasn`t enough to rebuild his destroyed house.

The other quake-hit people said they were living in tents in biting cold which was causing various diseases to children, women and aged people. They threatened to stage a hunger strike camp and block the Dir-Peshawar road to traffic if they were not given compensation immediately.

POWER STATION INAUGURATED: Secretary Energy and Power Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mohammad Naeem Khan on Saturday inaugurated a 150 kilowatt hydel power station at Sahibabad here.It was a day of celebration for over 80,000 population of Sahibabad and Dislawar as the power station built with the assistance of European Union would electrify their villages. The project has been executed by the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP).

SRSP chief executive officer Masoodul Mulk and officials of the district administration were also present.

Addressing the gathering, Naeem Khan paid rich tribute to the community for making a significant contribution to the project as they helped build an 8,000-feetlong canal that supplies water to the power station, thus minimising the overall cost of the project.

The energy secretary highlighted the government policy for tapping the renewable energy potential of the province, and thanked the EU for supporting the initiative.

`The power station will go a long way in meeting our energy needs and boosting businesses,` said a local trader.