ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: The construction work at the planned New Balakot City designed to accommodate October 2005 earthquake victims of Balakot has yet not started due to political interference and illegal occupants.

According to sources close to the developments, after the devastating October 2005 earthquake that completely destroyed Balakot City, the government on the instructions of geological experts decided to shift the residents of Balakot to some relatively safer place. For the purpose the government purchased land in District Manshera and designed New Balokot City.

According to officials total 3,900 families of Balakot City are still shelter-less (living in temporary shelter homes), 10 years after the catastrophic earthquake of October 2005.

After the earthquake, the then government planned to build Rs12 billion new Balakot City on modern lines to accommodate the affected people. The project got delayed and little progress is visible on site because of the failure of concerned authorities especially on part of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa government in getting possession of the land required to complete the project.

An official of the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) said that under the original plan, the project was to be completed by July 17, 2010 but even after lapse of the deadline, 50 percent of work on the project is still not complete.

“Between September 2009 and October 2010, construction work came to a standstill because of the murder of one person on the site over possession of land. And the district government has failed to get 80 percent of the land vacated by occupants who have not only been provided plots but also money to build houses,” he added.

The New Balakot City consists of five sectors - A, B, C, D and E. Of these, 80 percent of construction work in sectors C and D has been completed. The other sectors are occupied by the locals.

ERRA has paid Rs1.5 billion for approximately 878 acres to build the new Balakot city. And apart from the money required for land, the project is also short on the funds required to develop the basic infrastructure - roads, schools and dispensaries.

The official said “We have not been able to complete the project because the KP government has failed to get the required land vacated despite having received huge payments for land acquisition. However he added that now some efforts are started by the provincial government in this connection which includes engaging two local Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) and other local notables.

According to a senior official of the authority, the cost of the project is likely to go up by more than 50 percent because of the inordinate delay in the execution of the project. However, he said that we are going to initiate the process of reassessing the new cost of the project, which is a victim of the poor implementation of rules.

He said the government purchased the land during the Musharraf era but it could not be handed over to ERRA. “ERRA has not managed to get the land vacated and even if this is done, two more years are required to complete the project, provided financing is assured, the official added.