Sec 144 imposed near hydel plant

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora district have imposed restrictions on the movement of civilians around the project area of under-construction Kishen Ganga Hydro Electric Project (KGHEP) citing continuation of the work.

“For continuation of construction work on KGHEP and to maintain public tranquillity around the project area at Kralpora Mantrigam, District Magistrate Bandipora has issued prohibitory orders for imposition of Section 144 CrPC around a radius of 100 metres of the project site till further orders,” an official spokesman said on Tuesday.

Restrictions on the movement of civilians have been imposed within the prohibited area of KGHEP so that the “tendency of external interference” is curbed, he said.

The government ordered the restrictions as the local residents, demanding adequate compensation from National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) for land, threatened to intensify the agitation and stage a sit-in outside the project, official sources 

said. The residents claimed that a total of 38 hectares of land have come under the project for which Rs 40 lakh were paid as compensation per hectare, while as the compensation for the land taken in Gurez for the project has been Rs 1.20 crore per hectare.

They also allege that the waste from the project site is diverted into Madumati and Bunar streams as a result of which the water has been contaminated. The 330 MW project is being constructed at a cost of Rs 3,642 and is part of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme.