MULTAN, Sept 6: The federal minister for water and power, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, has said that 45 per cent of villages in the country are still deprived of electricity.

Speaking at a meeting at the headquarters of Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) here on Saturday, the minister said the future power policy would focus on power generation through indigenous resources rather than furnace oil.

He said that in view of the bitter experiences of the past, the government had decided in principle that local resources, such as water, gas and coal, would be used to produce electricity.

Mr Sherpao said enhancement of the country’s water resources was among the top priorities of the present government. He said 2.9 million acres feet of water would be saved with the capacity enhancement of Mangla Dam, one million acres feet with the construction of Gomal Zam Dam while the construction of Mirani Dam, Subakzai Dam and Sabpara Dam would also help improve the water resources.

The minister said the proposed projects of greater Thal Canal, Rainy Canal and Katchi canal would collectively enhance the water resources by 500 million acres feet. He said all these projects would be completed by the year 2007. “However, these projects are not enough to meet water requirements of the country. We will have to launch a mega project to meet the requirements in 2015,” he added.

He said work on the feasibility report of Bhasha Dam was under way, and hoped that it would be completed by June next year. He said Bhasha Dam would increase water resources of the country by 7.2 million acres feet besides generating 3,600 to 3,800 megawatts of electricity.

On the issue of Kalabagh Dam, the minister said Pakistan was a federation and if any of the federating units had reservations on a project then these should be removed before going ahead with the project. “But at the same time we should also keep in view the national interest,” he added.

He said the Wapda defaulters should avail the various relief packages announced by the authority. He said the government wanted rehabilitation of all industries that had been closed down just because of being defaulters of Wapda. He disclosed that currently only the defaulters of five or more years standing were being brought in the recovery net of Wapda.

He said power tariff could not be reduced until the correction of imbalance between the power generated through thermal resources (71%) and that generated through hydel resources (29%). “Increase in electricity tariff becomes unavoidable with the increase in furnace oil prices in the international market.” He however hoped that the situation on electricity front would be improved with power generation from Ghazi Barotha Dam and by the year 2007 the country would be generating 1,000 megawatts of additional hydroelectricity. The two units installed by China would generate 600 megawatts of coal power.

The minister ruled out different Wapda tariffs in different regions, saying that it was not possible in the given social, economic and political circumstances of the country that a Wapda region making profits should reduce the tariff while the region with deficit be allowed to increase it.

Earlier, MEPCO chief Brig Abbas Khattak briefed the federal minister about the performance of company under his command. He said that MEPCO had commissioned 130,000 new domestic power connections during the last fiscal year besides approving some 1,800 tubewell connections in the region.

He said MEPCO had received Rs685m for village electrification during the current fiscal year. He urged the minister to reduce power tariff because the industry in the area was fast converting to gas.

Later on, the minister visited Shujabad and Jalalpur Pirwala tehsils of the district and ordered upgradation of the Shujabad grid station from 66KV to 133KV. He addressed a public meeting in Jalalpur Pirwala and claimed that the people at large were least bothered about the Legal Framework Order as their issues were unemployment and price-hike.

He said the power had been transferred to a civilian government, but for its sustainability, it was necessary that the president should remain in uniform. He announced a 136KV grid station for Jalalpur Pirwala.

Addressing a press conference before his departure at the local airport, the minister denied that he was having a tug of war with Wapda chief Rao Zulfiqar Ali, saying that “our job is to frame policies and their to implement them”.

Meanwhile, according to a press release of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, the minister had agreed to reduce the seasonal charges on the cotton-ginning industry from six to four months. Besides, the ginning industry had also been included in the incentive package of Wapda for payment of outstanding dues.

The PCGA delegation met the minister in Jalalpur Pirwala under the leadership of association chairman Khalid Rasheed Chaudhry.