Farmers in Charsadda and surrounding districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have voiced strong opposition to proposed hydropower projects by the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO). The farmers say that these projects, planned to be built on irrigation canals, would severely damage their livelihoods and disrupt the region’s irrigation system.
During a recent meeting, local farmers released a statement declaring their intent to resist the hydropower projects “tooth and nail.” They warned that the initiatives would devastate the irrigation infrastructure crucial to the province’s agriculture, leading to significant losses for local growers.
The Mazdoor Kissan Party (MKP), which organized the meeting, brought together farmers from Charsadda, Mardan, Kohat, Malakand, and Bannu to discuss the potential impact of the projects. Shamas Khan, vice-president of the MKP, criticized the planned projects as “economic murder” of the province’s agricultural community. He emphasized that agriculture contributes 22 percent to Pakistan’s GDP and relies heavily on canal-based irrigation systems.
Farmers expressed concerns that the hydropower projects were being advanced without proper consultation with agricultural and irrigation departments, which would be directly affected. In response, the MKP has announced plans to stage a sit-in protest against both the provincial government and the international bank funding the projects.