SHANGLA: Twenty-seven-year-old daily wager Ijaz Ahmad from Zango Kool village of Kandia tehsil of Upper Kohistan walks for 25-30 minutes every second day from his house, covering three-kilometre-long rough terrain, to reach a shop in Thoti Bazaar to charge his and his family members’ mobile phones as the August 2022 floods had swept away a mini power station (MHP), supplying electricity to his village.

The Kandia tehsil once had around 50 MHPs, but all of them were swept away in floods, locals said, adding they restored some stations on self-support basis.

“An MHP was built on the Thoti River, which supplied electricity to Zango Kool, but it was washed away by floods. Ever since we go to Thoti Bazaar to charge our cell phones in Amir Jan’s shop because we no longer have power supply,” Ijaz Ahmad, the daily wager told Dawn.

The floods left painful stories behind as several people were killed in Kohistan and Lower and Upper Kolai Pallas districts.

August 2022 floods destroyed all mini hydropower stations in the region

The videos and photos of five men tied with ropes trapped in the middle of Dubair River had drawn the country men’s attention as four of them had been swept away by ferrous currents.

According to Provincial Disaster Management Authority, 23 people were killed and eight injured in the three districts. PDMA and the district administration don’t have data on MHPs.

Saifullah, an activist, said Thoti had been hub of MHPs and watermills. “The locals have rehabilitated three MHPs after collecting Rs2,000 per household,” he added, but said they still faced low voltage issue.

“We had a 25-kilowatt turbine installed on Thoti River, and had enough electricity to run home appliances in this far-off mountainous village. But, our power station was gone in floods, plunging us in darkness,” Saifullah said.

People built MHPs on riverbanks by constructing water channels, installing turbines and power production units (generators) from 5KV to 200KV. Each station costs from Rs200,000 to Rs2 million.

Sher Khan, a resident of Berti area of Kandia, said all the nine MHPs and four watermills in his area were destroyed by flooding. “We have rehabilitated four MHPs on self-support basis,” he said, regretting power projects worth billions of rupees were being constructed in Upper Kohistan like Diamer-Bhasha and Dassu dams, but the locals were deprived of power supply from them.

Anwarul Haq, Kandia tehsil council chairman, said revenue staff did not record data of MHPs destroyed during the post-flood assessment survey. He said some villagers installed new MHPs recently on self-help basis, but others who couldn’t afford installed solar panels to meet their electricity needs.

The Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (Pedo) recently conducted a survey in Kandia to build power projects as the tehsil is rich in water resources.

Hafeez-ur-Rehman, a teacher, said they wanted the government to initiate the hydropower projects in Kandia on provide electricity to Kohistan and nearby districts.

Nooruul Wahaj, focal person at district disaster management unit, Upper Kohistan, said the government only provided compensation for damaged houses and funds for rehabilitation of roads.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2023