The Sahiwal commissioner has requested that the groundbreaking ceremony for two coal-fired power projects that the Punjab chief minister is to attend on Wednesday should be deferred for a few days to allow the farmers whose land has been acquired for the project time to harvest their wheat crop, The Express Tribune has learned.
The Punjab government plans to set up the two power projects over 1,002 acres of agriculture land, situated at Qaderabad, with a Chinese consortium’s assistance, an official of the Punjab government said. Each plant would have the capacity to produce 660 megawatts of electricity, he added.
On the instructions of the Punjab government, the Sahiwal land acquisition collector had acquired the land needed for the project. The government had released funds for disbursal among the farmers whose land had been acquired.
The land owners’ association had demanded the government give them a few more days for harvesting their wheat crop, cut trees and remove installations such as tube-wells, generators from the designated site.
On the recommendation of the Sahiwal district coordination officer (DCO), the commissioner has now requested the Chief Minister’s Secretariat for allowing a grace period to the farmers to facilitate the harvest and removal of their belongings, which would be a goodwill gesture on the government’s part, the official said.
The CM Secretariat had constituted a steering committee, headed by the chief secretary and comprising parliamentarians from the treasury benches, to supervise and coordinate arrangements for the ceremony, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2014.