LAHORE: In an impressive ceremony yesterday, Mr Z.A. Bhutto, Minister for Fuel, Power and Natural Resources, inaugurated the Shadiwal Hydel Power Station, seven miles from Gujrat.

He described the occasion as “yet another landmark” in the history of power development in Pakistan, which, he added, had made great progress in this field since independence.

Earlier, the Canadian Minister, Mr Gordon Churchill, formally handed over to Pakistan all Canadian assets at the Shadiwal Hydel Power Station.

Mr Bhutto disclosed that the government was thinking of entrusting the work of local distribution of electric power to zonal public corporations and to relieve the Water and Power Development Authority of this function.

He said the total generation capacity since August 1947 had increased to over 9,00,000 kilowatts; from 1,10,000KW at the time of independence. Nevertheless, he pointed out, there was still demand for increased power.

He said that the government had asked the WAPDA in East and West Pakistan and the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) to carry out a survey to determine the demand of their respective areas during the next 10 years. The result of the survey would be known shortly, he added.

Enumerating the reasons behind unsatisfied power demand, Mr. Bhutto said that power was required not only for continued industrialisation, but also for combating water-logging, for salinity control, manufacture of fertilizers, development of mineral resources and various other purposes like electrification of farms and establishment of small-scale industries in rural areas.

Mr Bhutto congratulated the engineers, technicians and workers who had toiled hard on the Shadiwal project and called upon them to be prepared for harder tasks. Urging them not to rest on their laurels, the minister said that to ensure a decent living for the masses, “we simply cannot afford to rest for at least the next 20 years”.