March 13, 2002	Wednesday	Zilhaj 28, 1422

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QUETTA, March 12: Wapda Chairman Lt-Gen Zulfiqar Ali Khan has directed the officials of the Quetta Electricity Supply Company (Qesco) to speed up the pace of work on the under-construction transmission lines and grid stations for giving relief to its consumers.

He issued the directives here on Monday during a briefing by the chief executive officer of Qesco, Brig Agha Ahmad Gul, on the power supply situation in the province.

The Wapad chairman was informed that Qesco was supplying electricity to over 20,000 consumers in Makran, while Panjgur and Pasni power stations were producing 20mw to 26mw electricity, which was more than the requirement of the areas.

However, he said, it was being expected that the demand for electricity would increase considerably once Gwadar had been connected to the Makran Grid Network for which advanced arrangements were to be made.

The Wapda chairman underlined the need for setting up a Makran load-disparage centre to reduce the annual losses of six million rupees at Panjgur and Pasni powerhouses.

He said Rs35.39 had been allocated to supply electricity to rural areas and it was expected that 62 old villages would be electrified during the current year. Mr Khan later visited the Quetta city grid station and the Qesco rural operation division and directed the officials to improve the performance of their operations.