SKARDU, Dec 30: A 28 megawatt power station will be built at Basho near Skardu at an estimated cost of Rs2.386 billion to cope with the prevailing power crisis in Baltistan.

An amount of Rs5 million has been sanctioned during the current fiscal year to start work on the project.

Of the cost, 85 per cent expenses would be financed by foreign donors and 15 per cent would come from the government, sources said. A plan to construct two smaller power houses had also been approved, the sources in the public works department said.

The sources said the government had approved construction of two hydro-electric power stations in the district. One station with a capacity of 1MW would be built at Shamma Yul at a cost of Rs107 million. The government has allocated Rs5 million for launching work on the project during the current financial year.

A power project of 400 kilowatts is being constructed at Testey Shigar at a cost of Rs50 million. To start work on the project, Rs2 million has been allocated in the current Northern Areas Annual Development Programme.

A 1MW hydro-electric project at Gultary was also under consideration, sources said. Another 13MW would be produced from the Sadpara dam project, which is under construction. The project is due to be completed in 2006 but the pace of work is reported to be slow. Under the plan, the project should begin generating 4MW by June 2005.

Currently, the Northern Areas, including Baltistan, are facing acute electricity shortage. The generation of electricity in Skardu district is 5.75MW during summer and 2.64MW during winter.

In Ghanche district, the generation of electricity during summer is 3.5MW and in winter 1.77MW. The estimated requirement by 2010 in Skardu is 62.965MW and in Ghanche 22.695MW.