MANSEHRA: A jirga failed to make any headway in talks over the hurdles to the laying of transmission lines to the national grid station here on Thursday. Members of the national and provincial assemblies, commissioner of the Hazara division, and the project director of the Dasu hydropower project attended the gathering called by the Muttahida Kohistan Jirga. “We are firm in our stance that it will not allow the laying of electricity transmission lines from the Dasu hydropower project to the national grid station until Wapda honours the agreement signed with it in 2022,” MKJ member Bukht Buland Khan told reporters. He said the jirga had set modalities before initiating discussions with Wapda, commissioner Zaheerul Islam, and Dasu project director Amir Shafeequr Rehman. “We presented our demands, agreed upon by the Wapda chairman in 2022, to the commissioner and project director who sought time to discuss them with Wapda high-ups,” he said. Mr Khan said the next round of the jirga was scheduled for Dec 27 with the Wapda chairman expected to participate it. “We would then decide whether the transmission lines from the Dasu dam to the national grid station would be allowed,” Mr Khan said. He stressed under the agreement signed in 2013, when Kohistan was not yet divided into three districts, and later renewed in 2022, WAPDA was obligated to provide 9 megawatts of electricity. “Now that Kohistan is divided, Wapda is legally bound to supply three megawatts of electricity to each district in addition to fulfilling other conditions,” he said. He noted that the agreement also included the provision of subsidised (low-cost) electricity to around 20,000 households or consumers. Meanwhile, an official from the Dasu Hydropower Project said that Wapda would ensure an early meeting between the jirga and the Wapda chairman to resolve the outstanding issues. The MKJ cleared the five-day blockade of the Karakoram Highway last week following the release of one of its leaders, Kareem dad, who was arrested under 3MPO for creating hurdles in laying transmission lines. Lower Kohistan police on Thursday launched a crackdown against outlaws wanted by it for heinous crimes across the district. “I want all proclaimed offenders wanted to police behind bars and no negligence in this regard will be tolerated,” District Police Officer Taimur Khan told a meeting on crime at his office in Pattan, district headquarters. The meeting attended by SP, DSP, investigation officers and SHOs, reviewed the law and order situation across the district.