MANSEHRA: Water and Power Development Authority chairman retired Lt-Gen Sajjad Ghani on Wednesday said the 4,320 megawatts Dasu hydropower project would begin producing electricity by the end of 2026 as the work on it was in full swing and would be completed on time.

He was speaking to a group of the elders of Upper and Lower Kohistan and Kolai-Palas districts at the project site.

The Wapda chairman said the mega energy project being executed in Upper Kohistan would help address electricity shortfall in the country.

He said the authority had resolved all issues related to the project and was spending over Rs17 billion funds for the resettlement of displaced families.

Mr Ghani said the local elders should help Wapda give away resettlement package to the deserving families only.

“We’re spending Rs17.34 billion on the schemes relating to resettlement, environmental management and social development in the project area,” he said.

The Wapda chairman said the project created 3,722 jobs and around 2,000 of them were for locals.

He said the number would go up to 8,000 as the work progressed.

Mr Ghani later visited diversion tunnels, a housing colony and other project sites along with the commissioner of Hazara division.

PROTEST: Guards of the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital on Tuesday took to the streets against the non-payment of salary to them for four consecutive months.

The protesters marched on the premises shouting slogans for the immediate release of salary.

They warned that they would stage a sit-in at the city’s central intersection if dues weren’t cleared in the next few days.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2023