|
|
|
| November 30, 2002 | Saturday | Ramazan 24, 1423 |
Violation of Mangla Dam accord alleged: Sikandar calls for equitable treatment
ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: Azad Kashmir on Friday protested over the fudging of the minutes of an agreement reached last month with the federal government on Rs53 billion Mangla Dam-raising project and offered to hand over the state electricity department to Wapda or the federal government.
The complaint was lodged by Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan at a meeting with federal Water and Power Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, sources close to the meeting told Dawn. The AJK premier visited Sherpao’s residence in Islamabad on Friday and congratulated him on assuming the office of minister for water and power along with the charge of Kashmir affairs.
Mr Sherpao assured the AJK prime minister to constitute a special committee headed by himself and represented by ministries of Kashmir Affairs, Water and Power and the AJK government. The committee would finalize the minutes and get them cleared by the AJK government before its formal approval, sources quoted Sherpao as telling the AJK premier.
The federal and AJK governments agreed last month to raise Mangla Dam height by around 32 feet to enhance its water storage and power generation capacity. The unwritten agreement envisaged around Rs800 million annual royalty to Azad Kashmir besides rationalization of tariff rates.
The AJK prime minister also told Sherpao that an agreement reached at a briefing to President Gen Pervez Musharraf on the issue of Mangla Dam raising and settlement was being deviated and the decisions of the meeting were not being implemented. President Musharraf had directed former interior minister Moinuddin Haider to initiate the minutes.
Sardar Sikandar said it was agreed that Azad Kashmir would pay Rs50 million every year to clear its Rs1.5bn arrears to Wapda. The Kashmir government paid the first instalment of Rs50 million but was being asked to pay Rs500 million as second instalment.
The AJK premier said his government was not ready to pay bulk electricity tariff higher than that of the provinces and demanded an equitable treatment for his state. He also mentioned about the low voltage power supply to Azad Kashmir and said that in some areas even a fan can’t work due low voltage.
He said the special tariff being charged from Balochistan and NWFP was Rs2.01 per unit and Rs2.45 per unit respectively. A special tariff recently agreed to was Rs3.83, to be subsidised by the federal government to the tune of Rs1.05 per unit while Wapda was now demanding a tariff rate of Rs4.20 per unit, the AJK PM said.
“We don’t want any favour but demand that whatever has been agreed to earlier should be implemented in letter and spirit to avoid misunderstandings and confusion,” the source quoted the AJK PM as saying.
He said if the federal government or Wapda believed the AJK electricity department was inefficient, the department as a whole or its responsibilities could be handed over to Wapda or could be brought under the control of the federal government through Azad Kashmir Council because the AJK government was incurring Rs500 million additional amount every year on that account.
The AJK premier appreciated the resettlement package for people to be displaced by the raising of Mangla dam and said the move was welcomed both at home and among overseas Kashmiris. He however pointed out that around 7,000 people out of a total 23,000 displaced by the original Mangla Dam project were still not compensated despite passage of over 30 years.
Sardar Sikandar told the power minister that Azad Kashmir had a hydel power production potential of 5,000 MW but its power consumption could touch a maximum of 400 MW while the remaining potential could be utilized in Pakistan.
He mentioned the development of Jagran power project in the private sector but said the experience had not been encouraging.
He said his state had been neglected during the last three years when no grid station could be launched although no sovereign guarantee was required for the development of projects up to 50 MW capacity.
He said his government had prioritized 10 grid stations for development for the current fiscal year, out of which only five had been approved but not launched so far.
|
|
|
|
