MINGORA: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Saturday said his government was keen to tap the local water resources for power generation and had expedited work on the sustainable energy action plan.

He was addressing a function in Bahrain area here after inaugurating the 36.6MW Daral Khwar hydropower project.

The construction of Daral hydropower project was launched by the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation during the ANP government in 2012. It was scheduled to be completed in three years but instead, it took around eight years for completion.

The local MPAs, PTI workers and local elders attended the function. The chief minister said he was excited to inaugurate the Daral powerhouse, which was linked to the national power grid.

“The power project will generate 154GWh electricity and Rs1.2 billion revenue annually for the province. Of this revenue, 10 per cent will be spent on the development of the local residents. After the Daral powerhouse begins production, the duration of loadshedding in the area will also be minimised,” he said.

Mr Mahmood said the power project would provide electricity to Swat through the national grid stations. He said the rivers of northern parts of the country had huge potential for producing cheaper electricity.

“The provincial government is serious about tapping all available water resources of the province for energy generation and I am sure that the production of cheaper electricity will help ease energy crisis in the country,” he said.

The chief minister said the government had been working on several other hydropower projects, including 84MW Gorkin-Matiltan and 110MW Gabral projects, while work on 40 mini power projects has already been completed supplying cheap electricity to hilly and remote areas of the province,” he said.

Mr Mahmood said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was rich in natural resources and the PTI government would make full use of them for the people’s development.

“Besides striving to address energy crisis, our government is taking solid steps to make tourism a profitable industry to lay a strong foundation for durable development in line with its vision,” he said.

The chief minister said the government believed that only prosperity would bring peace and national unity for which the people from all walks of life would have to work together.

He shortened his visit to home district due to bad weather and left for Peshawar postponing meetings with different communities.

The PTI workers protested the postponement of meetings with the chief minister and briefly blocked the city’s main road shouting slogans against Mr Mahmood.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2018