Pakistani labour rights ignored: Hydropower workers block Karakoram Highway over unpaid wages

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], October 11 (ANI) Protests by the Dasu Hydropower Project workers entered their second day, with demonstrators blocking the Karakoram Highway to demand long-overdue wages and fair treatment under Pakistan's labour laws. The blockade disrupted traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) for several hours, as reported by Dawn.

According to Dawn, hundreds of workers gathered in the Chuchang area of Upper Kohistan after marching along the highway, raising slogans against what they called exploitation and negligence by the company executing the multi-billion-rupee energy project.

Protesters said that despite the government's notification fixing the monthly wage for 26 working days at Rs 40,000, they were still being underpaid and forced to wait months for their dues.

"The company's delays in paying wages have pushed us to the brink; we can't even afford basic food or schooling for our children," one protester stated. Workers accused the project management of repeated false assurances and said that shopkeepers had now stopped giving them essentials on credit.

The protesting labourers warned that if their grievances were ignored, they would boycott work altogether, halting progress on one of Pakistan's major hydropower projects. They urged district authorities to intervene and ensure that the company complies with the labour department's wage notification and national employment laws.

The Baffa-Pakhal administration is preparing to launch an anti-encroachment drive across the tehsil, targeting illegal structures built along the Karakoram Highway and other key routes. Assistant Commissioner Nayab Abbasi said notices had been issued to encroachers and warned that non-compliance would result in punitive action.

She added that the campaign aims to improve traffic flow and civic order, and that even the dilapidated community centre would be demolished to make way for a new facility, as reported by Dawn. (ANI)

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