By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: The standing committee of National Assembly on Water and Power, in its meeting held here on Thursday, directed the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) to reach an agreement with Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) by 5th January next to purchase its electricity from Golen Gol Hydro Power Project and provide its consumers in Upper Chitral.
Chaired by MNA from Chitral Shahzada Iftikharud Din and attended by its members Sher Akbar Khan and Junaid Akbar, the meeting was told that more than 20 thousand consumers of PEDO were without electricity for the last three years when its Reshun hydro power station was washed away by flash flood and the KP government had made no alternative arrangement.
The PEDO representative said that technically it was feasible to connect the transmission line of upper Chitral with Golen Gol hydro power station and assured the committee that agreement will be formalized with PESCO for its tariff per unit to provide it the upper Chitral villages.
The committee also directed the authorities to expedite work on the completion of grid station in Drosh and Juti Lusht and ensure the completion by next month before the visit of prime minister to Chitral during which he will inaugurate the commissioning of Golen Gol hydro power project.
The committee expressed its displeasure over the delay in the upgradation work of the local hydro power station of WAPDA situated at Singoor near Chitral city despite being funded Rs. 3. 46 billion by French government and asked the bottlenecks, if any, to start work within shortest possible time.
The committee asked the PESCO to minimize the duration of loadshedding of power in Malakand Division keeping in view the stark reality that hundred percent payments and recoveries of electricity bills was recorded in the area with zero incidence of power theft.
They said that the ministry of water and power had already decided in principle to make the duration of loadshedding in an area directly proportionate to the rate of payment of power bills by the consumers and by this standard, Malakand Division was an ideal place throughout the country.
The committee also directed the WAPDA to pass the high transmission lines through the mountainous regions bypassing the human settlement to save the agricultural land which had a dearth in Chitral while there was no provision of compensation for the land acquired for tower poles.
Earlier, the project director of Golen Gol hydro power project, Engineer Javed Afridi briefed the committee about the progress of the project and told that the first unit of the 108-MW hydro project will be completed by 8th January next while the other two will be completed within next two months.
The committee members expressed their anguish and dissatisfaction over the inordinate delay in the completion of the completion which ought to have been completed and commissioned to work five years ago while they disagreed with the reasons for the delay and termed them ‘flimsy’ and sound.
