AJ&K govt waives electricity bills for 2,376 Mangla Dam-affected families

ISLAMABAD: (Rizwan Abbasi) The Azad Kashmir Jummu and Kashmir (AJ&K) government has taken a big step for the families affected by the Mangla Dam up-raising project and waived off all their outstanding electricity bills.

According to an official notification, the electricity arrears of 2,376 families affected by the Mangla Dam have been completely cleared.

The Department of Energy and Water Resources, Azad Kashmir, has issued an official notification in this regard, according to which the total amount of arrears waiver is Rs 139.17 million.

According to sources, the affected families include all those families who were forced to move to another place after being evicted from their homes due to the expansion of the Mangla Dam and the rising water level.

The government has taken this decision in view of the long-standing demands of the Mangla Dam victims, who have been demanding concessions in electricity bills and waiver of arrears for decades.

Sources say that the notification will bring great relief to thousands of affected families. The bill waiver has been implemented immediately and the old arrears on the electricity meters of all the affected will be reduced to zero. The government initiative is being highly appreciated by the public and the affected people.