Diamer-Bhasha Dam land-affected people block Karakoram Highway
GILGIT: The protest sit-in for the rights of Diamer-Bhasha Dam land-affected people intensified on Sunday as protesters blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) at various locations in Diamer district and warned that they would stage a long march towards the dam’s construction site if their demands were not met.
The Diamer-Bhasha Dam land-affected committee, under the ‘Huqooq Do, Dam Banao’ (Ensure rights, then build the dam) movement, has been holding a protest sit-in in Chilas and Thore areas of Diamer for the past five days.
The protest was launched against the non-implementation of the agreement made between the protesters and the federal government last year.
The organisers gave a call for a mass protest on Sunday in Thore valley of Diamer.
Organisers alleged that people from Chilas, Goner Farm, Goharabad and other areas of Diamer had started marching towards Thore valley to join the protesters. However, police and security forces blocked the KKH in the Ghichi and Hudor areas to prevent them from reaching Thore.
Protesters also took to the roads and blocked the KKH at various points. A large number of demonstrators in Thore valley staged a sit-in.
Protester threaten to stage march towards construction site if pact with govt remains unimplemented
Thousands of passengers travelling to and from other parts of the country to Gilgit-Baltistan were stranded, with long queues of vehicles forming on the Karakoram Highway. Commuters faced severe difficulties due to the road closures.
Warning
Addressing the protesters in Thore, chief organiser Maulana Hazratullah said: “If our convoys from other areas are not allowed to reach Thore immediately, we will be forced to move towards the dam site and Thore colony.”
He held the officials of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) responsible for the situation and claimed that they were the main hurdle in the implementation of the agreement between the government and protesters.
The standoff between protesters and police has created severe tension in the area.
The protesters announced that the sit-in would only be called off once their demands are met. They said that in the presence of Diamer-Bhasha Dam-affected people as well as members of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s committee, Wapda and GB government officials had signed an agreement in 2025 to resolve all issues.
However, they said that even after more than a year, not a single clause of the agreement had been implemented.
They accused Wapda of failing to meet the protesters’ basic demand of regularising local contingent and contractual employees.
Demands
Addressing protesters, committee head Maulana Hazratullah issued a stern warning to Wapda and the local administration.
He said Wapda had “challenged the honour of the people and scholars of the area” by violating the 2025 agreement.
“The entire Diamer is standing behind us… there is no way back now,” he added.
The protesters demanded immediate implementation of all clauses of the 31-point agreement and the regularisation of local temporary Wapda employees.
They warned that if their demands were not accepted, their next step would be a “long march towards the dam site”.
The 31-point charter of demands included 80 per cent royalty of Diamer-Bhasha Dam and 30pc royalty of Dassu Dam for Gilgit-Baltistan; free electricity to Diamer district and on discounted rate to the people of GB from Diamer-Bhasha Dam, compensation for 18,000 acres acquired for the dam, financial package for the remaining 3,000 families of affected by the dam, commercial and residential plots, education, health, sewerage projects, appointments of local people on the dam project from grade one to grade 16 and regularisation of contingent and daily wage employees.
In February last year, PM Shehbaz formed a seven-member committee to address the grievances of those affected by the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project.
The decision came amid the continuation of a protest sit-in by the affected people in Chilas, the district headquarters of Diamer.
The committee was chaired by the minister for Kashmir Affairs, Gilgit-Baltistan and Safron, with the minister for water resources acting as the co-chair.
Other members of the committee included the GB chief minister and chief secretary, Kashmir Affairs, GB and Safron secretary and the chairman of Wapda.
Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2026
