LANDI KOTAL: Elders of Malagori area of Jamrud tehsil have demanded royalty over Warsak Dam in accordance with an agreement.

Talking to newsmen at Jamrud Press Club on Wednesday, Malagori elders Haji Sher Afzal, Haji Aurangzeb, Sabz Ali Khan, Haji Ezzat Gul and Hasan Raza said that Malagori and Tarakzai tribe of Mohmand Agency had signed an agreement with the federal government when the dam was built in 1955 regarding their right over the royalty of Warsak Dam and supply of free electricity to the villages affected by its construction.

They argued that if Sui area in Balochistan and Gorguri in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were given royalty over natural gas, then why not the people of Malagori over the dam, which was contributing about 200 megawatt electricity to the national grid.

The elders said that the dam also provided irrigation water to thousands of acres of agricultural lands of Peshawar valley and Charsadda district.

The Malagori elders assailed the Tribal Areas Electricity Supply Company for subjecting over 200 marble factories in the region of excessive loadshedding and low voltage despite payment of regular power bills.

The tribesmen appealed to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, additional chief secretary, Fata, and Khyber Agency political agent to take up the matter with the federal government.