PESHAWAR: Due to the financial crisis faced by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, completion of a number of important power generation projects in Chitral has been delayed for the last several years, which has increased its cost in billions.
According to the department of power and energy, various projects were launched by the provincial government to increase power generation at a cost of billions of rupees, but since the federal government couldn’t provide funds to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in term of net electricity profit, these projects are facing delay.
Due to the unavailability of funds, other development projects in the province couldn’t be started during the ongoing financial year as well.
Reshun hydel electric project in Chitral, severely damaged by floods in 2015, couldn’t be restored as the 4.2MW project suffered at the hands of incompetent provincial government.
Similarly, the 69MW Lavi hydel power project started by the Awami National Party (ANP) government in Chitral district could not be completed so far.
According to Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) sources, the department will soon resume work on the flood-damaged Reshun project and all efforts would be made to complete it within due time. Work on the Lavi hydel power project, which had been stalled for a long time due to an emergency situation like coronavirus, has been resumed and the contractor has been directed to prepare a recovery plan and submit a report within 10 days.
Similarly, the rehabilitation work on the Reshun power plant damaged during the floods was also reviewed and it was informed that the power plant was to be rehabilitated after completing the work in June this year. However, the condition of the power plant has been severely damaged. At the same time, the roads leading to the project were also destroyed by the floods.
The officials have directed the concerned authorities to contact the communication and works department to re-construct the connecting roads so that there may be no further delay in power generation from the project.
