ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Raza Hayat Harraj on Thursday admitted on the floor of the Senate that Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) had given a wrong reply to a question asked by a senator regarding passage of dangerous electric wires over the rooftops of houses in many parts of the country.

Mr Harraj, who was giving replies on behalf of Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi during Question Hour, said it was wrong to say that electric wires were not passing over the rooftops of the houses as such scenes could be witnessed anywhere in the country.

It may be mentioned that in response to a question of MMA Senator Syed Hidayatullah Shah, the water and power minister in a written reply stated that “it was not a fact that electric wires in most of the areas in the country were passing over the rooftops of houses.”

The minister had stated that “only in newly-constructed areas, this type of situation was created where people had constructed their houses underneath the electricity network without getting the wires re-routed through proper procedure”.

Senator Sadia Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) said only the electric wires were passing over rooftops, but the government had also allowed mobile phone companies to install towers in residential areas.

Mr Harraj said it was a fact and Wapda had submitted a wrong reply. However, he said, both Wapda and the people were responsible for the situation. He said it was also a fact that at many places there were illegal constructions due to which electric wires were passing over the rooftops.

MMA Senator Kausar Firdous said even if there were illegal constructions then it was the responsibility of Wapda to take steps to remove these dangerous electric wires. She asked the minister to tell the house that what steps Wapda had taken to improve its infrastructure.

Mr Harraj said Wapda was aware of the situation and taking various steps to check such incidents. At the same time, he said, it was not possible for Wapda to shift electric poles every day. He said the authority should not be blamed for killing of people due to kite-flying.

In reply to a question of Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, Mr Harraj told the house that there was no possibility of any serious power crisis in the country provided the power projects being implemented by Wapda in public and private sectors were implemented in time. He claimed that at present there was a surplus of 1,550 mw electricity in the country as of February 14 this year.

Raza Mohammad Raza of the Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) said if electricity was in surplus then why there were over 43,000 villages in the country without electricity. He said Wapda had not launched any hydel power project in the last 30 years.

Replying to another question of MMA Senator Syed Hidayatullah Shah, the minister informed the Senate that the construction work of Oghi Grid Station was likely to be completed by February 28 this year.