KP govt. approves Rs.2.92 bn to compensate Miranshah property owners

Peshawar:       To address the impending concerns of the locals, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government approved Rs2.92 billion to compensate those whose land had been utilized during infrastructural rehabilitation of the Miranshah bazaar – the North Waziristan tribal district.

It is one of the issues the civil-military leadership had to deal with in the particular tribal region, as the residents and shop owners had long been complaining about their property loss or demolition.

According to sources, the provincial relief, rehabilitation and settlement department issued an administrative approval for the compensation of land utilisation in the North Waziristan tribal district. The approval was given a green signal under Accelerated Implementation Programme for which Rs2.92 billion were allocated.

“Now the relevant deputy commissioner would disburse compensation amount to the affected people as per demarcation following the money is released by the finance department,” said an official.

The demolition of the main market took place during operation Zarb-i-Azb, which was launched in June 2014. Following the successful operation, the armed forces undertook rehabilitation operation to provide relief to the people, boost to the economy and exceptional support to the government. Therefore, the entire market was crumbled down to be re-constructed in the light of a new master plan prepared by National Engineering Service Pakistan.

Reportedly, the compensation would benefit 342 owners, as each would be paid Rs300,000 per destroyed shop.