MINGORA: Electricity supply to the picturesque Kalam valley in Swat district has been restored after six years as the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) has rehabilitated a 400 kilowatt power house.

General Officer Comman-ding of the 17th Infantry Division, Maj-Gen Javed Bukhari, inaugurated the project, built by the SRSP under the European Union’s peace project. The power house would also supply electricity to 40 hotels in the valley.

As the Sarhad Hydel Development Organisation (Shydo) built powerhouse remained out-of-order for years, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had entrusted the SRSP to rehabilitate it.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had inaugurated the project in September 2013. However, work on the project was formally launched in November 2013 and got completed on May 10, 2014.

“The SRSP did a good job by building such a vital project in such a short time,” said Maj-Gen Bukhari. He said that he was happy to see that organisations like SRSP were playing a crucial role in national development.

Speaking on the occasion, SRSP regional programme manager, Zahid Khan, said that an oversight committee had been formed to ensure speedy completion of the power house in record six months time. He said the one-third of the tariff would be shared by Wapda.

The SRSP official said another out-of-order powerhouse in Ashoran village was also handed over to the SRSP, which would be completed by October. “With the completion of Ashoran powerhouse, 12kw electricity requirement of the 3,000 households of Kalam would be met,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, SRSP chief executive Masoodul Mulk said the organisation, with the help of the EU, was building hydel projects to meet the people’s electricity requirements. “I thank the EU for trusting and providing us fund for launching people-friendly projects,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2014