Peshawar: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Energy & Power Mohammad Atif Khan along with PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Wednesday formally inaugurated 305 kW 3 Mini Micro Hydel Projects including 200 kW Bela Bala, 75 kW Shagai and 30 kW Beesa Khait in Batgram district, in a simple but impressive ceremony.
The ceremony beside Secretary Energy &Power Engr: Naeem Khan, Chairman PEDO Board Shakil Durrani, CEO PEDO Akbar Ayub and District Nazim Batgram Atta-ur-Rahman Tarnd, was also attended by the notables and elite of the area in large number.
The Minister, on this occasion also announced up gradation of local high school to Higher Secondary and construction of Sports Stadium in Shamlai.
Addressing on the occasion, the Minister said that work on 356 mini micro hydel projects costing Rs.5.524 Billion in 12 different districts of the province was underway with community partnership out of which37 have been constructed while remaining would be completed by the end of 2017 that would benefit a population of more than 3 lacs. He added that the number of mini micro hydel projects would be enhanced to 1000 with support of Asian Development Bank to overcome the shortage of electricity. He said, a new power policy 2016 has been approved for making full utilization of hydel power in larger interest of the province and its people.
Atif Khan maintained that presently work on 6 power projects of 214 MW was in progress out of that 3 projects would start generation of 56 MW electricity this year which would be provided to industrial estates for economic growth and eradication of poverty and unemployment from the province as industrialization was the only way to get rid of these problems.
In order to attract domestic as well as foreign investment in the province, 6 hydel power projects in private sector including Arkari Goal (Chitral) 99 MW,Naran Dam (Mansehra) 188 MW, Sheko Kach(Dir Lower) 120 MW,Gorband (Shangla) 21 MW, Batta Kundi (Mansehra) 96 MW and Nandihar(Batagram) 12 MW have already been advertised while work on 84 MW Mataltan hydro power project in Swat has also been approved, he further said.
The Provincial Minister asserted that PEDO has also a plan of solar panels installation in 5650 houses and provision of solar power to 200 villages of the province. He added that large scale activities started by PEDO during the present era have no parallel in the past.
He said, poverty and unemployment was the basic issue of the province and it could not be resolved without industrialization adding that the PTI was focusing on this very important sector.
He said that viable plan was being devised for best utilization of God gifted natural resources like hydel, hydrocarbon, oil and gas for benefit of the masses so as to bring real change in their life as per commitment of the PTI. PPI
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