“They are snatching away our forefathers’ lands from us. They are taking away our roofs. We have nowhere else to go. God will make sure justice prevails.”

This is what 80-year-old Nooran Bibi, a distressed resident of Chah Hasilwala in Kot Addu told Lok Sujag as the government is acquiring more than two and a half thousand acres in this area to set up a solar power plant.

Hasilwala was a dry and barren area until a few years ago when new solar technology changed it. People invested in leveling the land and in solar tube wells. Now, agriculture is flourishing and local irrigation networks are operational.
Ironically the same technology is bent upon changing the area once again - this time for the worse from the point of view local residents.

Muzaffar Khan Magsi, a prominent local leader says that the government did not provide roads, electricity or water in Thal. Now that people have made their own arrangements, the government wants to buy agricultural land and install power plants.

He says that nearly three hundred families will become unemployed and homeless. Their protection is not even a consideration in the project.

Stage managing land acquisition

Shahbaz Sharif government approved a program to produce two thousand megawatts of electricity from solar energy in September 2022. Under this program, the government decided to set up a 600-megawatt solar plant approximately 35 kilometers north of Muzaffargarh city, between M.M. Road and Rangpur Road.

The survey and land acquisition work for this project was entrusted to the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC). The Land Acquisition Act 1894 was thus invoked, and the work of surveying and estimating the price of land was entrusted to the district administration of Muzaffargarh, Kot Addu was not a separate district at that time.

On March 16, 2024, the NTDC Headquarters, WAPDA House issued a press release announcing the “successful acquisition of two thousand, five hundred and fifty three acres, six kanals, and nine marlas of land in Tehsil Chowk Sarwar Shaheed for the solar power plant.”

It further said that the land acquisition collector has announced the award under Section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 for the mentioned land. On this occasion, the Director General (Land) NTDC and other officials were also present”. A picture was also released with this press release showing the 'Award Ceremony' banner.

The landowners of the area, however, declare it as a blatant lie.

Shafqat Nonari is a local farmer who runs a shop near the site at Adda Chowk. He said that neither his objections were heard nor any notices were issued before the award, nor was he compensated for his lands.

Nonari recalls survey work on his lands had started a few years ago, without any prior information. “This process continued intermittently. During one of their visits, they told me that a solar plant would be installed here. They estimated the price of my land between 225,000 to 280,000 rupees per acre. The rate for Moza Wandar was set at 180,000 to 225,000 rupees per acre. However, landowners in the Pati Sultan area will receive compensation of four to five lac rupees per acre.”

Shafqat says that the locals rejected this offer and have raised objections. But the authorities summoned landowners and “told us to take the money being offered and warned that otherwise, we will have to run to Lahore to get even this much.”

He says that after this the government officials put up banners, took pictures and left. The next day they heard the news that ‘land has been bought from the public.’

But when the government teams came again a few days ago, local people resisted and stopped them from the new survey.

Barren or cultivable: Old land records fail to reflect new realities

Mehar Ijaz, a landlord in Thal who also practices law in Muzaffargarh informed Lok Sujag that more than 50 landowners have filed petitions with the Land Acquisition Collector based in Lahore.

He says that the petitioners have raised objections regarding serious violations of rules in determining the value for the acquisition of lands under various sections of the Acquisition Act of 1894.
“Our objections were not heard and proceedings were conducted unilaterally. I also filed a petition in the court of the Additional Deputy Commissioner of District Muzaffargarh but justice was not done there either.”

Landowner Mian Ameer Nawaz from Thal says “If only Commissioner Dera Ghazi Khan would visit the site with his deputy commissioners and inspect these fertile lands, I am confident they would relocate the solar plant.”

On March 15, affectees staged a protest at the Khudai bus stop. They said that the government’s offer price is too low. “It costs eight to ten lakh rupees to only level one acre of barren land and make it cultivable. We will not accept the offer under any circumstances.”

Ameer Nawar Khudai from Basti Khudai also participated in this protest. He suggested that there are thousands of acres of government land lying vacant in District Muzaffargarh and Kot Addu, where the government can set up the power plant and spare this agricultural land.

Shafqat Nonari expressed frustration over the fact that despite making significant investments in irrigation systems and agricultural activities on the lands, these are undervalued and misrepresented as barren in government records.

“The market rate of our lands is between rupees ten to fifteen, and even eighteen, lac per acre but the authorities are offering many times less. If land is to be acquired, we should be made at par with the market rate."

Patwari Tahir Ghuman of Moza Wandar Sharqi told Lok Sujag that both developed and barren lands are included in the proposed area of the solar plant. He confirmed that most of the area has already been developed for agriculture but the revenue department has not updated its records, which is causing them to be undervalued.

Deputy Commissioner Mian Usman Ali informed Lok Sujag that the land for the plant has been acquired through the revenue department and the price has been determined in accordance with the law.

Under the Fast Track Solar PV Initiatives 2022, the government's 'pilot project' for the Muzaffargarh/Kot Addu solar power plant had failed to attract international investors till January 2024.

The federal government has repeatedly sought bids for the 600 MW solar plant, yet despite scrutiny on every aspect from the initial tariff to concessions, no bidder has shown interest.