KOHAT: Federal state minister Sheharyar Afridi has claimed that the government has approved Rs10 billion for a new 220KV grid station to be built in Kohat by the National Dispatch and Transmission Company to solve the longstanding problems of loadshedding and low voltage in the division.

Talking to journalists at the Commissioner House on Friday, he said a committee led by him and comprising MPs from Kohat, Karak, Hangu and Orakzai would meet federal minister for water and power Umer Ayub on coming Thursday to discuss matters regarding the construction of the grid station.

The grid station would be constructed in Togh Bala area to address the problems of loadshedding in Kohat, Orakzai, Hangu and Karak districts, Mr Afridi said.

He asked the commissioner, Kohat division, Syed Abdul Jabbar Khan to find state land for the grid station and submit a report within one week.

The state minister said that transformer repair workshops had been approved for Hangu, Orakzai,Thall and Karak districts. Earlier, there was only one workshop in the whole of Kohat division, he added.

Sheharyar Afridi said federal minister for water and power Umer Ayub had approved the 220KV grid station and transformer repair workshops during a meeting with him. He said people had to pay Rs20,000 to get the transformers repaired at private workshops as Pesco took days for the purpose.

Similarly, the federal minister said he had asked the relevant officials to prepare PC-1 so funds could be approved for fixing the loose transmission lines.

He said during repair of the transformers in Kohat trolley-transformers of 200KV, 100KV and 50KV would be provided to keep the power running without suspension.

He said as Kohat had 37 feeders which were overloaded four more for Patiala, Gumbat, Express Highway and Kharmato had been sanctioned.

Mr Afridi said there would be no loadshedding where recovery rate was above 70 per cent.

He said the Kohat SDO construction, who previously sat in Peshawar, would now be shifted to Kohat. He said that a committee of officials and MPs would resolve the issue of power theft and the kunda system which badly damaged transformers and transmission lines.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2020