LAHORE, June 11: The Punjab government decided on Wednesday to reduce power charge on agriculture tubewells in the province by up to 33 per cent and pay a subsidy of Rs480 million to Wapda for the purpose.

The decision was taken by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi during a briefing given to him by Wapda chairman Lt-Gen Zulfiqar Ali Khan (retired) at Wapda House.

According to officials, the subsidy will be effective from May to October this year whereas the chief minister said a system was being evolved for permanently providing relief to the growers in power bills.

Under the system, the chief minister said, power rates for agriculture tubewells during 10pm to 5am would be reduced by 30 to 35 per cent on permanent basis. The system would be effective from January next year, he reportedly said.

He said the decision would improve socio-economic condition of growers and enhance crop production. During the fiscal year 2003-04, 4,000 new power connections would be given for agriculture tubewells while the figure would be 5,000 during every next year.

The chief minister said the Deg Drainage Project costing Rs1 billion had been completed in order to protect the Basin area in Sialkot, Narowal, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts from waterlogging. Under the project, drainage of flood and rainwater would be ensured so as to protect crops, roads as well as residential colonies.

He said the projects like SCARP Sadqia (southern Punjab), SCARP Sialkot and SCARP Gojra-Khewra were near completion and aimed at protecting around one million acres of land from waterlogging.

The chief minister said 54 places had been identified to set up hydro-electric power stations on canals and barrages in the province which would not only cater to agriculture requirements but also provide electricity to the growers on cheaper rates.

He said these projects, to be completed at a cost of Rs36 billion in 10 years, would generate 600 megawatt of power.

The meeting was attended by Agriculture Minister Arshad Lodhi, Finance Minister Husnain Bahadur Dareshak, Irrigation Minister Amar Sultan Cheema, adviser Jehangir Tareen, and senior officers of the provincial government and Wapda.