July 11, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1424

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GILGIT, July 10: The 18 megawatt Naltar power project on which work was scheduled to start in June has hit technical and financial snags, sources said on Thursday.

They said that Northern Areas public works department officials had requested the region’s chief executive, Federal Water and Power Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, during his visit to the site on Thursday for initiating amendments in the revised PC-1 of the project.

“The Kashmir affairs and Northern Areas division has asked the NAPWD not to deviate from the revised PC-1. But problems like payment of the commitment and management fees to the Chinese executing firm, the China Loaning International Construction, are beyond its scope,” an engineer of the department said.

He said the department had sought incorporation of the fees in the PC-1 so that they were able to start work on the project.

He said the project would generate 18MW of power in summer but in the winter it could be reduced to 6MW due to low water discharge in the streams.

“We have to construct some water reservoirs for the winters to meet the power demands in the peak hours,” he said.

He said the government had committed to granting Rs360 million for the project while the Chinese Exim Bank had extended $16.31 million credit.

The official said the project’s cost had increased due to the change in the exchange rates to Rs1.33 billion.

He said the Chinese firm had been asked to send at least 21 engineers within a week for survey before the execution of the project.

He said work on the project would be launched only if the Kashmir affairs and Northern Areas ministry gave an anticipatory approval till the revision of the PC-1, without which it might not be commissioned.