PESHAWAR: Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) has undertaken eight projects including new grid stations and transmission lines worth Rs5.5 billion in the merged districts under the federal and provincial governments-funded Accelerated Implementation Programme (AIP).

Two projects have been completed while the remaining six schemes will be completed by June 2022. An official statement issued here on Wednesday said that Chief Minister Mahmood Khan was briefed about the power supply system in the merged districts.

The statement said nine other projects had been launched under the Annual Development Programme (ADP). It said that six of the nine projects had been completed so far in the merged districts whereas the remaining schemes would be completed by June 2022.

The statement said that three projects of grid stations and transmission lines worth Rs2.5 billion were also being implemented in the merged districts through foreign funding out of which one schemes had already been completed whereas the remaining two would be completed till the end of the current year.

Mahmood Khan directed the Tesco officials to devise short-term, mid-term and long-term plans to strengthen the overall power transmission system in the merged districts to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to the people of the area.

He said that provincial government would provide all out support and required resources for the implementation of those plans. He also directed them to chalk out a fixed schedule for load management at feeder level in tribal districts and take necessary steps to reduce the duration of power loadshedding to the minimum possible level.

The chief minister directed the quarters concerned to take solid steps to ensure physical progress on the ongoing projects to improve power infrastructure in the merged districts. He said that provincial government would ensure timely provision of resources to complete the ongoing projects within the stipulated timeline.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2022